Sakura of Hoshigakure The Untold Tale
by Sakura-Centric
Summary: What if Sakura was the main character? What if the Sage of Six Paths was tied to her through fate? What if she was meant for more than merely the medic of Team 7? What if she was destined to decide the fate of the Five Nations? What if..
1. Chapter 1

**_Sakura of __Hoshigakure; _Book One, The untold tale.  
**

**A/N: This is an alternative story, yes it is in the Naruto Universe, although Sakura's life story is different, and will meet the others soon enough, so if you enjoy tales of hardship, romance, loss, and strength, enjoy.**

This IS a SasuSaku fic, with some PeinSaku and NaruSaku, but mainly SasuSaku.

Oh, one more thing.

Jubi: The ten tailed beast that's chakra was split into nine sections to form the 'Tailed Beasts.

Rikudo Sennin: Sage of the Six Paths that practically founded chakra, setting the ninja world into motion!

_I do not own Naruto._

**Part One.**

_**Chapter One; Fallen Stars**_

**A mere day before the Jubi was split into the Tailed Beasts by The Rikudō Sennin …**

_His body was growing weak, he was well aware of that, and the beast within him would soon gain freedom by his inevitable death. The great monk remains seated on the ground, focused in deep meditation. _

_As he meditated, a great prophecy played before his eyes, and as they re-opened, he knew what he had to do to assure the safety of the Five Nations. Therefore he called upon his younger son, knowing his intentions were pure, and held the belief that love and kindness was needed to create peace within this world, when his son arrived he asked if they could take a walk through the gardens. _

"_My son," He spoke, looking into the eyes of his son, that very much so resembled his own, "I have had a prophecy, I shall die today." He said softly, placing a palm on his sons shoulders, which now shook gently with the tears only a man of great compassion could shed. _

"_Do not weep my son." The sage spoke, Gently squeezing his young child's shoulder, "You must give this-" He spoke, holding up his six-ringed staff, "To your descendents, they shall pass it down to a child, a child born in Hoshigakure, The Village hidden Among Stars." _

_Confused by his fathers words, the younger son tilted his head, "How are my people to know which child should possess the gift you are willing to give?" He questioned. _

_The monk thought for a moment, his eyes scanning through the garden, plush with vegetation in the warm spring weather, before plucking a gentle blossom, _

"_The child's hair will look like the fresh spring petals of a cherry blossom." _

**Nearly Two Hundred Years Later…  
**

**(A/N: I'm just estimating the time distances here, I should be nearly correct though, I apologize for any errors. & Tsunade IS a part of the Senju clan, which originated from the Sage of Six Path's youngest son, (The one he entrusted with his staff.) Which has been passed down generation to generation within the family, and after reading a note her Granduncle left for her (AKA: The second Hokage) She is fulfilling the prophecy of her family. At the current moment she is )**

Through the night, Traveled a woman with hair the color of gold, the Senju symbol proudly adorned on her back, and a bundle of ancient wrapped silk in her arms as her eyes focused forward, determined to fulfill her family's destiny.

"_Take this to Hoshigakure, take it to the Third Hoshikage, and tell him to give it to his daughter, the one borne of cherry blossoms." _

The request was cryptic, but now the ancient Senju artifact was to be passed down to its rightful owner, as planned for hundreds of years. Now, as she was reaching the boarders of the small village she could see a great gathering of people, all wearing smiles and clapping. She craned her neck to see what the celebration was, and as her eyes focused on the balcony of the Kage tower her heart leaped.

It was the Third Hoshikage, extending into the air what appeared to be a small infant, wrapped in blankets of silk, but what caught her attention was the child within, with a head of petal pink hair.

_That must be the child… _She thought, her arms carefully clutching the object concealed within cloth, careful not to let it touch her.

"_You must not touch the object within, for its power will be your demise." _The note from her Granduncle filled her thoughts, her golden hair flowing softly in the slight spring breeze, what an appropriate scene for a child of such appearance.

She pushed through the wave of villagers, ignoring the groans and protests of those she pushed from her way. Staying in complete silence she entered the tower, and was immediately greeted by two ANBU, adorning the headband of their village, a single star proudly carved within the metal of the plate.

"What is your business here?" A voice from behind the mask of a wolf questioned, his voice gruff and demanding, clearly with deep concern for his Kage.

The woman offered a small nod of respect and held out her Passport, showing she was of Konohagakure, One of the ANBU with the mask of a china doll stepped forward, a woman with long raven colored hair, "Follow us." She nodded.

The man with the wolf mask walked behind the woman, and the Onyx haired woman walked ahead, ascending up a spiraling staircase that seemed unending. With an annoyed grunt from Tsunade they had reached the top of the staircase, reaching a hallway.

"Hm? Who is this?" A soft voice questioned, causing the three to turn their heads. Seeing the Third Hoshikage, His face kind and features soft as he focused his eyes on the unknown third person.

"I am Tsunade, of the Hidden Leaf Village and the Senju clan." She nodded, reaching into her pocket to retrieve her passport, but a raised hand from the Hoshikage paused her.

"No need," He smiled, before turning to the two ANBU and giving them a small nod, which in tern left Tsunade and the Hoshikage alone in the hallway, "Come." He waved happily, Tsunade followed silently behind; Shocked by the kindness of the man.

"You know why I have come?" She questioned as they stopped at one of the veins of the hallway and before one of the doors, The Hoshikage smiled and opened the door to reveal an infant's room, Painted a soft white with lavender accents, "You're from the Senju clan, I needn't know more, The prophecy foretold your arrival before you were even born." He nodded, walking to the side of a white crib, and staring down lovingly at the child.

"She's beautiful." Tsunade said as she stared down at the child, who was truly a sight. Skin that looked to be crafted from marble, long raven lashes that fanned down to touch the sleeping Childs cheeks, which wore a rosy tint. Tuffs of pink curls circling the child's head.

"She is. A true gift to my village." He smiled. "You need only touch her with the staff, and then it shall be hers."

Tsunade was taken aback by his words, "How did you-"

"I told you, we have been awaiting your arrival."

Tsunade cautiously stepped forward, her heart fluttered as she pulled the black drawstring connected to the lavender pattern, watching as the fabric slipped, revealing a six-ringed monk staff, being sure not to touch the staff itself she rocked forward on her heels, dipping the tip of the staff down ever so gently.

As the child's eyes flew open Tsunade nearly jumped back, a small, feeble hand reached up and laced itself through one of the six rings, and just like that the staff forced Tsunade away, crimson and blue lightning wrapping itself around the golden colored material.

"Ungh." Tsunade groaned, bringing a hand to her forehead, her body still tingling from the harsh jolt of electricity.

As she rose to her feet she watched the Third Hoshikage slowly re-wrap the staff, careful not to allow it to touch his skin in the process. As he completed he turned to the young blonde leaf Nin, seeing the wisdom resting within her honey colored eyes.

"Would it be possible for you to return to check in on my daughter every couple of years?" He questioned, his back turned to the blonde Kunoichi.

Tsunade was puzzled by his words, but nodded aimlessly anyway, her hair which was pulled up into a spiky ponytail swayed at the motion, "Yes."

"Good. Because I do believe you two are bonded." He smiled, his gaze turning to a nearby window, staring almost lovingly at the stars that hung from the sky. They seemed to be brighter here, ironically.

"Yeah, I do too."

**0o0o00000oo0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

**The first chapter doesn't seem interesting I know, and some of it doesn't make sense, so I'll explain it here.**

Okay,

One; The Third Hoshikage is Sakura's father.

Two; The Rikudo Sennin (Sage of Six Paths) had a prophecy about Sakura, and left her his Six-ringed Monk staff, (For reasons that will later be revealed) That only Sakura may touch without being harmed.

Three; Tsunade received the ancient artifact that has been passed down through the Senju clan since the first (The younger son of the Rikudo Sennin) and brought it to a location her Granduncle (The second Hokage) wrote a letter to before his death left for living Senju clan members to take the artifact on the prophesized day.

**Hope you enjoy this story, it's actually quite interesting I promise you.**

~Sakura-Centric. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Part One.**

**Chapter Two; The Beginning**

**(Tsunade's Pov)**

I groaned as the cold November air nipped at my neck, it had been nearly six years since I had stepped foot in Hoshigakure, The war had ended, the Nine Tail's sealed within the Fourth Hokage's son.

My hand went to wrap around the clear crystal necklace around my throat, caressing the surface unconsciously.

My mind raced back to the letter the Hoshikage had sent me, Shizune was with TonTon somewhere in the village already, I had stayed behind to do what had to be done, and although it brought great sorrow to my heart, I knew I could do nothing,

_You cannot change fate._

As I neared the tower, eerily familiar to the scene from the first time I had arrived within the village, for some kind of winter festival was currently going on, the small village smelled of sweets and fried foods, streets full of performers and brightly colored lanterns, an inappropriate scene for such a day, although it seemed to lighten the mood.

I was greeted at the door by two ANBU, oddly enough the same ANBU who I had encountered the first day of my arrival as well, showing my passport they nodded and lead me up that damn unending staircase, what was the point of such a ridiculous staircase anyway?

As I came to the door of the Third Hoshikage's office my heart swelled, and before I could even open the door it swung open, a small bright-eyed pinkette greeting me at the door, wearing a beautiful white kimono with a silver obi, pain, but on the small girl it nearly made her look like a goddess, her silvery pink tendrils in waves down her small body, a complicated looking bun atop her head, held by two silver chopsticks.

"Hi miss, are you here to see my daddy?" She smiled, her eyelashes fanning beautifully over her cheeks with every blink, leaving the older woman in a daze, before a kind male voice uttered a laugh from behind the door.

"Let her in my dear child." The voice laughed, the pinkette gave a wide smile and pulled the door open, offering a small bow to the older blonde as she entered the room, noticing how the man watched his daughter's movements with great compassion and pride, tearing at my already weary heart.

I was to take her, wipe her memories clean, replace them with a genjustu, making her believe she was born in the leaf, an orphan, the Third Hokage said it would be best if no one knew of her true home or nature. She was young enough to slip in undetected by the other children, old enough to have a normal life, well- as normal is it could be with the power bestowed upon her.

"Did you come for the winter festival? It's so pretty." The little girl chirped, looking out the window admirably, her eyes sparkling with wander and excitement.

"Why yes, I did." I lied with a smile, crouching down to eye level with the small girl, still towering over her, "Why aren't you down there?" I questioned.

"I'm waiting on Sumaru-Kun." She grinned, I watched in amusement at the gleeful expressions this little girl held, it appeared that she had her own special smile for every occasion possible.

A tiny knock at the door caused everyone's head to turn, and as Sakura hurried over and pulled the door open, a little boy with dark raven hair and crimson eyes appeared, smiling happily, he looked to be about eight, two years older than the small girl, who leaned her powerful staff against a nearby wall to give the small boy a tight hug that he merely blushed and returned awkwardly.

The small girl's giggles filled the room, fallowed by the warm aura of a loving father as he offered a small smile at the girl and her companion, "Don't have her out too late, ne?" He mused, offering the small nervous boy a wink.

He nodded vigorously and offered what I thought was meant to be a solute.

"Bye Daddy!" The little girl beamed, running over to her father to encase him in yet another painful-looking hug and grab her staff before disappearing through the door with the young boy.

Once we were alone in the room the Third Hoshikage turned to me, his face a kind of peaceful sadness that held acceptance to his fate. "So you know what must be done, ne?" He questioned, his eyes staring into the starry night sky.

I nodded grimly, "You don't have to let this happen you know." I spoke softly, I still had trouble understanding how some could so peacefully accept fate, although for the protection of those you love, and the fate of your village, many have willingly embraced it.

"It was meant to be, besides, past is past, future is future ne? I merely know I am meant to remain in the past. I've lived, had a beautiful wife, a beautiful daughter, watched her grow, perhaps not as long as I would have liked to but still; I showed her the love and kindness any child deserves." He nodded wisely, his words bringing a smile to my lips.

"Who was that boy?" I questioned, trying to lighten the aura of the room, although it would be impossible.

"Aa. His name is Sumaru, Sakura's taken quite a liking to the boy, many of the children from the village adore her, but by far he seems to care for her a great deal. He's somewhat drawn-back with other children, but with her he seems carefree." He smiled softly, "His parent's- Well, they died when he was young. They were strong shinobi." He nodded in admiration.

"How did they die?" I questioned, unable to hold back my curiosity.

"They died in the name of the star, the one that has caused my people so much dismay." He spoke sadly, eyes cast downward in shame; I stepped forward, placing a hand on the older man's shoulder.

"Some don't think much of our village; in fact, some go as far as to say that in the council, a Hoshikage's word means no more than a civilian's. But these people- to them, we are strong, divided by no one, a family." He smiled softly, eyes cast to the stars, sparkling with happiness.

I remained silent; his words making me feel a pang of sympathy for the small village.

"But, My time has come, my time to leave my loving daughter and village to join the stars, and in turn, I may watch them both grow, maybe not in person, but spirit." He smiled, his eyes looking younger than I'd ever seen them.

I nodded softly; it was all I could think to do.

"When do you think he will come?" I questioned.

"Tomorrow morning." He nodded.

"So I take her tonight?" I questioned sternly.

"Just before daybreak."

_**Sakura**_

I swung my legs back and forth happily, watching Sumaru play a game at one of the festival stands; it consisted of throwing small white balls at a stack of bottles to try and knock them over, which Sumaru-Kun has successfully done.

I couldn't see very well, but as he came closer I could see the small necklace in his arms.

There wasn't a chain, just many tiny-tiny blue beads that were tightly strung together with a silver clasp at either end, a shimmering silver moon hung in the center, it was so pretty!

"Here," He said softly, I blushed as he started walking behind me, and felt his hands brushing the rest of my hair over my shoulder, his hands were cold, like the morning air, and as he clasped the necklace I noticed it didn't hang as low as I thought it would, in fact, it brushed my tiny collar bones, the pendant hanging not low after.

"I thought you'd like it." Sumaru offered with a small blush, his crimson eyes looking everywhere but at me. I giggled softly and pulled his hand into my own.

"Arigato Sumaru-kun. Let me try and win you something!" I smiled, bouncing happily to one of the stands with his hand in my own.

The stand had a wall full of colorful balloons, and as I came closer, I saw a lot of them were already popped.

The man at the stand bowed to me really low, the weird way everybody does. "Hai honorable daughter." He said in that weird way everybody did.

"Hello," I said, kind of mad that people acted so silly around me. I placed some money on the counter that my daddy had given to me to play games at the festival. The man gave me another weird look before telling me he wouldn't take my money. What was wrong with my money? After I told him that I needed to pay for the game because everybody else did seemed to make him quit making me feel weird, he handed me a bunch of darts.

I smiled and aimed the first dart at a big purple balloon in the center. This man clearly didn't know that I would one day be the world's greatest kunoichi!

**Cha!**

_Pop!_

The man's eyes widened a fraction at how the dart had struck the balloon dead center with perfect precision. Before two more pops echoed through the air, deflating a big blue balloon and a near green one, successfully running out of darts I smiled, peering into the glass case at the prizes. Then I saw the perfect prize for her Sumaru-Kun! He would love it!

"I want that one!" I smiled happily, my finger pressed to the glass before whirling around the face Sumaru-Kun, he was so much taller than me! His cheeks were the same color pink as my hair. "Turn around and don't peek!" I winked, taking the prize into my hand as Sumaru turned around, before I copied his movements and brushed his soft black hair to the side to clasp his own necklace.

He turned around to face me with an obvious blush, the necklace I had chosen for him was a lot like mine, It had tiny-tiny silver beads strung tightly together with a metal clasp on each end, except the pendant that dangled was a golden star.

"Look Sumaru-Kun, together we make the night sky!" I smiled happily, watching his cheeks turn ever redder! He was starting to look like a cherry!

I felt my own cheeks brighten when he took my hand in his, his was bigger than mine, and a little cold, but it made me really, really happy to hold his hand.

"Promise you'll never forget me?" I questioned, looking up at Sumaru's pretty cherry-colored eyes. _  
_

"I promise, Sakura-Chan." He smiled softly. Sumaru-Kun always had such tiny smiles, I was about to ask him about that when a weird feeling made me stop, I could swear I just saw a blue haired lady!

I tugged forward to look for her, but kept getting bumped into by other people.

Where did she go?

"Sumaru-Ku-" I started to ask, before I realized I was standing alone in the crowd of people.

What I didn't notice was that Sumaru-Kun was now gone, and I was standing alone in a crowd of people who were pushing and pulling in ever direction, I clutched my staff to my chest, my little heart beating furiously.

I'd never been completely alone in the village! Oh daddy would be so mad that I lost Sumaru-Kun! Oh no… What if he gets mad at Sumaru-Kun? It wasn't his fault! I need to get home fast… Wait! Where's _Sumaru-Kun_?

_I'm scared_. I thought miserably, looking in every direction, until I could see the beginning of the forest, I'd played there with Sumaru many, many times. I knew it like the back of my hand! I bet I could go into this forest and find my way home faster than with the tons of people confusing me!

And with that I made my way into the density of trees, but instead of going home that weird feeling came back, and my legs were moving without me telling them to, deeper into the forest, father and farther away from home, until a flash of orange appeared through the tree's.

"Hello?" I asked softly, my heart beating like a hummingbird's wings inside my chest, making my little ribs hurt.

"Who are you?" The voice of a boy questioned from the darkness, it sounded like a boy anyway, not as old as my daddy, but older than me at least, even by a little.

"I am Sakura Haruno!" I stated proudly, I sounded a lot braver than I felt right now. I was kind of glad too, that I had the strength to be brave at a time like this, I'd always had Daddy or Anbu-San's to protect me.

A whoosh sound filled the air, and I saw a boy who looked a little older then Sumaru-Kun, He was at least a foot and a half taller than me with bright orange hair, and a bunch of odd metal rod-thingy's sticking out of his face in the oddest of places.

But his eyes were beautiful, lavender, the color I'd been surrounded by in my nursery as a baby, and still surrounded by today. My hand unconsciously reached out to him, and I meant to draw back- but his hand caught mine, it was bigger and warmer than Sumaru-Kun's, and pulled me forward, pressing my small hand to his cheek, the way I wanted to touch. I was astonished by the soft pale skin, and my fingers trembled softly as they traveled over his skin, feeling the cold pieces of metal within, his skin was warm to the touch, his eyes soft, but his face- it looked so cold. The way Sumaru get's when he's around the other children.

"Who are you?" I asked softly, my wrist still encased in the older boy's.

"My name is Pein, Blossom." He said softly, He sounded older, like my daddy, not his voice… but his words sounded older, My opposite hand clutched around my staff nervously, it seemed to fill me with a comforting power.

The lavender eyes flickered to the staff, but remained there. "That's an interesting object, Blossom. May I see it?" He questioned, almost coaxing his voice, he sounded like a lullaby.

"It doesn't like to be touched by anyone but me…" I said softly, nervously watching the boy's hand outstretch, before it clasped around the staff, which now held four rings, instead of six, two just mysteriously disappearing over the years.

My heart nearly stopped when his long, slender fingers wrapped around the golden metals, and something in her paused, it felt like time itself had stopped,

_Click_

_Click_

_Bang._

The beam of light exploded from the now severed staff, No, the pieces did not touch the ground, it appeared to turn light, all solidity in the object disappearing, the light was so blinding that it burned to look through closed eyes, I had to push my hands over them it hurt so bad.

I felt an odd sensation at my feet, and it slowly began to rise, so, so, so slowly. And then it shot through me, and it _burned_.

Oh Kami it burned.

**(Narrative Pov)**

"_**Ahhhh!"**_

The piercing scream shot through the night, a blinding white light shooting into the air above the girl, it could be seen for miles throughout the land, before the immense power slowly started to disappear within the young pinkette, coming to a soft aura-like glow over her skin like a layer of sheer cloaking over her entire form.

Her eyes were completely white; the shimmering chakra dancing across her skin like the glittering of thousands of diamonds, her silvery pink hair had fallen from the bun, cascading at her hips in soft curling tendrils. She looked like a being of beauty and peace that the orange haired boy nearly felt a pang of guilt for releasing the Sage's power in to.

_It was not your choice. It was destined to be. _His mind reasoned, he gave a soft nod at inner agreement as he stared at the young girl, before watching her fall to the ground, the chakra levitating her to the fall was slow, and soft, as if loving arms were slowly lowering her into the soft grass, a slight frost touching them.

He neared the girl, crouching down to look over her, her skin the color of a china doll, a soft rosy tint on her cheeks, her long black lashes fanning beautifully over her cheeks at their amazing lengths, her full lips a beautiful paled pink, along with her pale pink locks, so light they held a silvery sheen to them.

She was absolutely beautiful, Pein leaned forward, pressing a soft kiss to the girl's forehead, wishing he could take her with him, but he knew her destiny did not hold him in it. He could feel Konan's nearing Chakra presence, and knew the civilians were nearing the sight of the strange lights and screaming.

Cupping her cheek in his hand softly the young boy, incredibly wise beyond his years, heaved a soft sigh. "For now, my blossom, I bid you farewell."

And with that, the figure that once towered over the fragile blossom disappeared into the dark shadows from where he had came, not a single trace of his presence in the air.

Unknown to the young girl, who was dreaming away, this day, would be the most important day of her entire life.

_The day her fate was decided. _

**0o0o0ooooo00000o0o0o0o0o0o0o 0oo0o0o**

**I know it's still kind of cryptic, and this is only the second Chapter, but I hope things are starting to make sense at least a little, and do not worry, next chapter will be a slight time skip, but bear with me, much has changed, and the things that go unsaid in this chapter that happen after Pein disperses should be obvious, if not;**

Tsunade has wiped her memory of her father and her affiliation with Hoshigakure, replaced them using a genjustu to make her believe she is an orphaned child in Konohagakure.

Her father will die tomorrow morning, for reasons that will be revealed later in the story.

When Pein broke the Sage of Six Path's staff he released the powers within that only Sakura could obtain. The meeting between the Sakura and Pein was prophesized as well. 

**-Sakura-Centric**


	3. Chapter 3

**_Well, Here it is! 20 cigarette butts and 2, 2-liters of Mountain Dew later…_**

Part One.

**Chapter Three; Enter, Team Kakashi!**

_7 years later…._

**(Sakura's Pov)**

I groaned as a loud ringing filled my ears. "Man I should start going to bed earlier…" I grumbled, leaning over the side of my large bed to slam a closed fist over that damned clock, hushing it immediately.

Running a hand through my hair I yawned, throwing the thick navy blue blanket off me so I could crawl from the bed. My eyes were still attempting to blink away the tiredness that resided within them, and as I groggily made my way toward the bathroom I heaved a heavy sigh, leaning over the sink to splash some cold water over my face.

I wasn't a morning person, by any means, I didn't like the cold feeling that came after pulling off the blankets, I didn't like the grogginess, I didn't like the tired lag that seemed unending. I think it was safe to say that I _hated_ mornings. I swiftly removed my pajama's, consisting of a baggy baby-blue T-shirt, and my under-dressings.

I sighed at my reflection my skin was ever so pale. At least Ino-Pig and Hina-Chan have soft, sun-kissed tans, _but oh no, not Sakura, leave her to be the albino freak. _I thought groggily, my hair was brushing just below my shoulder blades, the same silvery-pink it has always been, although instead of hanging in soft straight tendrils they were slightly curled at the ends from slumber.

Running my fingers through my hair to pull out knots I jumped into the shower, hastily washing my hair and body, the sweet smells of bathing oils filling the steam in my bathroom.

As my shower came to an end I dried myself in a plush white towel, grabbing the black binding-wrap from above my dresser, and slowly wrapping it around my developing bosom, before slipping on a pair of black panties and leaving my bedroom in search of the laundry room.

My single bedroom apartment was a decent size, a bedroom with a personal bath, a nicely sized laundry room, guest bathroom, spacious living room and a well-kempt kitchen.

Perfect for one, or two, if need be.

I lent forward to sweep my damp locks into a messy bun atop my head. The color was darkened due to its wet state, appearing to be almost a bubblegum pink.

I pulled a cup of instant beef ramen from the cabinet with a growl from my stomach as support, and slowly began the process of cooking it. Truth be told I ate a lot of ramen, it was quick and easy to make, easy to clean up after (Although to Naruto, not so much) and actually tastes pretty good.

As the microwave beeped signaling its success in cooking the ramen I sighed, breaking the chopsticks apart and digging in to my not-so-healthy-but-tasty breakfast. I was in no rush really, today was the day we were going to be assigned teams, and I had a particularly bad feeling I would get stuck with Ino-Pig or that smartass Shikamaru, although he played a great game of shoji, he could be infuriating.

I slurped down the remaining noodles and tossed the plastic cup into the garbage can, making a mental note to take the trash out later tonight.

As I entered my bedroom I noticed that I had thirty minutes, perfect amount of time to get dressed and head to the academy.

I quickly threw on my usual form-fitting black T-shirt with the white Haruno crest on the back, and a pair of baggy cargo pants, kept on my slim waist by a black belt, a second belt hanging diagonal and loosely with various holsters and notches for my ninja tools.

I sighed softly as my fingers came to brush the crescent-moon shaped pendant I wore around my neck, strung my miniscule dark blue beads. I couldn't remember where it came from for the life of me, but it meant a lot.

I pulled my hair from the bun and shook it out, letting it hang just past my shoulder blades, a couple inches above my elbows. It seemed more silver today, the pink lighter than usual, "Must be the sunlight." I commented before grabbing my fingerless gloves from atop my dresser and shoving them into one of the holsters of the belt.

**I wonder whose team Sasuke-Kun's going to be on!** My inner voice giggled, I blushed softly and tried to ignore it, but that never really worked with her.

**Ooh! What if he's with Ino-Pig! **The voice chuckled, obviously at Sasuke's expense, I'm pretty sure anyone on the team of the loud blonde would have trouble staying sane.

_Well, What if he's on our team? _I questioned softly, the blush darkening itself over my cheeks at the thought, I couldn't say I was friends with the Uchiha, but we'd talk a little when we were children, he was always nice to me, and then…

Well, he was alone, like me. Although I never got to tell him that, he probably doesn't even want to talk to me anyway… I mean, with all of those girls who like him so much… How could I add up to that?

**Just shut up already, you're annoying shyness is pissing me off. QUIT GOING OUT OF CHARACTER! We'll be the best Kunoichi in the world one day! CHA!**

I giggled at the voice and shoved my hands into my pockets, stopping to stare at a flock of birds that flew in an elegant V across the bright blue sky, It didn't get cold in Konoha, in fact, I'd never seen it snow here, The winter's could get a bit nippy, but nothing more, Winter's were quite enjoyable here actually, it was the perfect temperature, not too hot, but not too cold.

As I rounded the corner of my street I could hear a distant shouting, but couldn't correctly make out the words, until-

"Hey! Sakura-Chan!"

I turned around to see the blonde haired ninja known as Naruto Uzumaki trip and fall face down into a puddle.

"Naruto! You baka!" I sighed, offering a hand to help him up.

"Heh, Thanks Sakura-Chan." He grinned sheepishly, looking down at his muddied orange and blue jumpsuit, (Naruto _may_ be colorblind.) "Dang it." He groaned, scrubbing at the fabric with the palm of his hand, to which I could only giggle at.

"Come on Naruto, maybe you won't be late for once." I scolded the blonde; He simply gave me that silly sheepish look again and walked beside me, a big foxy grin causing his sky-blue eyes to sparkle.

"I hope you're on my team Sakura-Chan!" He beamed, offering me a dazzling smile.

I chuckled nervously, "Naruto, I'm not so sure-"

"Tch. Hey forehead!" A shrill, ear-piercingly high voice echoed through the streets of Konoha, causing several nestled birds to fly off sensing the impending doom.

"Hey pig." I smiled sweetly, the sarcasm biting at my tongue to get out.

The Yaminaka heiress simply flicked her long platinum blonde hair with a smirk, "I guess I've got Sasuke-Kun all to myself now that you're going with the village idiot. Not that you were competition anyway!" She grinned.

I simple heaved a sigh at her, deciding it best to just ignore her idiotic outburst as I turned to continue walking I heard Naruto bellow,

"Shut up! I'm not the village idiot! You've already filled the position!" Naruto laughed proudly, I was a little taken aback that the Uzumaki could generate a decent comeback, Mental note: Reward Naruto with ramen later.

"C'mon Naruto, We're gunna' be late." I sighed, already quite a distance ahead of the two blonde's. I could hear his frantic footsteps and chuckled softly at his crazed antics, in fact, I'm surprised Naruto hasn't pulled any grand pranks today, although I suppose scrubbing the Hokage monument for two days taught him a lesson, for once.

As we came into the Academy I could see we were surprisingly early, and glanced to the wall clock to find we were nearly twenty-minutes early, I rubbed my temples, annoyed.

**Quit setting that fucking clock early. I hate getting up in the morning. **Inner groaned, and for once, I agreed with her.

I could see some students had already arrived,

Neji and Hinata Hyuga, sitting in the far back row, Neji stern and serious and Hina was fidgeting nervously with her fingers the way she always did.

Shikamaru and Choji, Shikamaru who was of coarse drooling away on his desk, and Choji who was stuffing his face with potato chips with so much ferocity I was sure he was going to choke soon.

TenTen, who was sitting alone in the front row, her hazelnut colored eyes determined, as if deep in thought.

And Sasuke… Sasuke was sitting alone in a middle row of seats; his finger's laced beneath his chin and his onyx eyes fixed forward, completely ambivalent to his fellow students, ignoring them as if they weren't there.

Naruto, being the great big Baka he was, strolled over to Sasuke, who didn't so much as blink when Naruto towered over his sitting form, shoving a finger in his direction, "Hmph! I bet you get put on the worst team teme!" He grinned.

I mentally sweat-dropped and took a seat next to Sasuke, Naruto to my other side, I smiled softly, feeling a little like the peace-keeper. Although Sasuke's aura was cold, I was tempted to touch his hand, to feel if his skin was cold too, but deemed it an awful idea. Naruto however was vibrating confidence and happiness through the entire room; he truly was like a personal sunshine, creating brightness with his atrociously colored jumpsuit and bombastic personality.

I placed my fingers over my lips to muffle a soft chuckle, but it did not go unheard by the blonde.

"See teme? I can make Sakura-Chan laugh! Ha!" He grinned, slinging an arm over my shoulder with a grin.

"Naruto, If you don't remove your arm, _I will_." I said dangerously, watching the blonde give a nervous grin and remove his arm from around my shoulders.

I simply sighed and rested my head upon the desk, ten more minutes, what could possibly happen? I'd probably get teamed with two random people, it wouldn't be so bad, I mean, I'd never really had trouble with anyone here- besides Ino- I could make due of the situation easily.

"Okay class,"

Everyone's heads seemed to lift at the sound of a door softly shutting, and a mess of spiky hair belonging to none other than Iruka Sensei entering the room, causing a hush to swipe the room.

"Today you will be assigned your teams," He nodded, a clipboard in his hands and that friendly smile he had always had plastered over his face, "But first let me say just how proud I am, of each and every one of you." He grinned, his hazelnut eyes resting on Naruto longer than anyone else, clearly proud of Naruto's growth.

So he went on and on, still hadn't heard my name called,

**You haven't heard Sasuke-Kun's either. **

I silenced the damned voice in my head as I could hear my name being called;

"Team Seven, Sakura Haruno… Sasuke Uchiha and, Naruto Uzumaki."

My jaw nearly dropped, and I watched as Naruto (The Baka he is) Jumped from his seat, pointing a defiant finger in the Uchiha's face, which happened to be dangerously close to my own,

"Iruka-Sensei! Why does a great ninja like me have to be stuck on a team with a guy like Sasuke- Mmmmmnff!"

Naruto's words were cut short by his arm being locked behind his back and his face shoved onto the surface of the desk, his blue eyes widened in shock as I held him in place, "Naruto! We're a team now! Respect each other!" I scolded, before realizing that the eye of nearly everyone (Besides Shikamaru, who was sleeping away.) was placed on Naruto and I.

I blushed and slowly released the blonde, feeling Iruka's oblong glare I sheepishly scratched the back of my head, feeling the glare from nearly every girl in the room from being on Sasuke's team, how the hell was it my fault?

I simply rolled my eyes and sat down, watching Naruto grumble childishly and rub the side of his face, Sasuke just kept his unfazed impassive look, his onyx eyes locked forward.

I blushed softly, I'd never really been this close to Sasuke- Well that was a lie technically, we were friends when he was little, although- It didn't work out quite as well as some childhood friendships did…

_A little pink haired girl whirled and twirled through the air, her face bright as she danced and tumbled through the field of sunflowers, the sun feeling wonderful on her alabaster skin, while beside her a little raven haired boy lay on the ground, looking up at the clouds with wander only a child could possess_

"_Sakura, quit running around." He sighed, catching her tiny wrist in his hand and with a soft tug convincing the small girl to take a seat beside him; she simply offered a small smile and sat crisscrossed and looked down at the young, passive child. _

"_Sasu, why don't you smile anymore?" She questioned, tilting her head to the side, causing her long silvery locks to roll over her shoulder. _

_The little boy shrugged, "My brother has been helping me train to become a ninja, and he says that I shouldn't show so much emotion." _

_The little girl's cheeks puffed out as she gave a 'humph', "If Ita-san told you to jump off a cliff, would you?" She questioned, crossing her arms over her chest and cocking her head away from the young Uchiha. _

_He was about to answer when a loud voice interrupted their conversation, _

"_Sasuke!" A booming male voice snarled, and soon the figure of Sasuke's father came into view, the small pinkette's features instantly turning sorrowful, knowing what was soon to come. Sasuke seemed to feel the impending scolding too because he sat up and stared at his father with sullen eyes._

_As the man towered over the pair of children he snatched Sasuke from the forearm and yanked him up, with only a slight gasp of complaint from the young Uchiha, before turning to the pinkette and offering her a cold sneer, "Sasuke, you aren't to play with this girl, She should _**bow**_ in the presence of an Uchiha!" He spat harshly. _

_The pinkette's eyes filled with crystal tears, and a small sniffle came from her direction, as she took off in the direction of her lonely home, to sit by herself. _

_She didn't hear Sasuke's protest, or see him yank away from the larger man to go after him, only her hollow footsteps on the ground as she collected equally hateful glares from the villagers, too young to understand them or their cold attitude towards her. _

I was pushed out of my flashback by a cold stare of an uninterested Uchiha who I'd unconsciously bumped my elbow against, we were currently waiting for out Sensei to appear, and although he was considerably late so all the other students had already left.

"He-he, this will teach him to be late!" Naruto grinned, as Sasuke and I watched him wedge an eraser within the crease of the partially open door. I rubbed my temples in annoyance to the building headache,

"Naruto, He's a Jonin, he's not going to fall for that." I sighed impatiently, growing with more annoyance as time passed by.

_._I couldn't help my curiosity and sent out tiny bits of chakra to probe the area, recognizing some of the signatures, although noticing an unfamiliar one, slowly approaching the classroom.

**(Kakashi's Pov)**

_This will be interesting, certainly interesting…_ I smirked inwardly, fixing my mask before coming to stand before the door to the classroom, my hands shoved safely within my pockets. But as I reached for the door I froze.

A tiny pinprick of chakra came from within, it would have gone unnoticed too if I wasn't so close, It was meant to scout the area, to check for a chakra signature, Was someone in there with the genin? I must come to their aid!

_Poof_

My eye twitched irritably as my face was flooded with a chalky sheen, feeling a light thud atop my head I watched a chalkboard eraser slip to the floor. My eyes slowly scanned the room, to find the most peculiar set of children I'd ever seen, and the most familiar- So familiar it nearly hurt to see them-

A blonde haired boy- Naruto Uzumaki by the looks of him- rolling on the floor and clutching his stomach at what appeared to be his little 'joke' going as he had planned, getting glared at by his other two team mates, although it nearly looked to be almost a _friendly_-glare.

_Itachi-_ Was the first thought that ran through my head as my eyes fell onto a brooding young raven haired boy, sitting as far away from the others as possible, his fingers locked beneath his chin in somewhat of a thinking stance, He was the spitting image of Itachi Uchiha, and had the same cold detachment as well.

Beside him sat a pink haired girl, whom was watching Naruto with amused eyes, and every once in the emerald orbs would look to the young raven-haired boy with a look of hope.

"I dislike all of you." I smiled cheekily, watching their faces drop to confusion, some even irritation.

To be honest, I was almost- dare I say it- excited to see how they would fair at the test, I'd failed many, many genin, in fact, I'd yet to have a team of proper genin. But these- These children reminded me so much of my own team it was eerie.

**(Sakura's Pov)**

_Kakashi-Sensei, _He had called himself. He looked strangely familiar, although I couldn't place just _where_ he'd been familiar from. Eh, It'd come to me eventually. I scratched the back of my head in thought as Naruto went on about his 'likes and dislikes' after an absolute shit explanation of our Sensei's likes and dislikes. So I wasn't in much favor with the man anyway.

My eyes flickered to Sasuke who was staring at the sky in agitation. Had he always been like this? As far back as I remember he's always loved the sky- he loved the color blue, although anyone who came in contact with him would know that.

Slowly, a memory re-surfaced…

_It was a week after the massacre, and Sasuke was in the hospital._

_A young girl made her way to the medical ward, a basket of the raven-haired boys favorite flowers in her small hands- Sunflowers, The very sunflowers from the field they had spent so much time in together, tied off with a dark blue ribbon. _

_As a nurse lead her to his door, she noticed the look of sadness on the older woman's face, and the little girl's head bowed softly, feeling the tiny tears that had pricked up on her jade eyes, and slowly entered the room. _

_The little girl's dear friend was facing out the window, his eyes blank- cold, It nearly frightened the small girl, but she neared anyway, putting on her best brave face. She could see the puffy redness beneath his eyes, recognizing the fact that he'd been crying. _

_As the floor creaked with one of her steps his head turned her way, his eyes holding a cold annoyance that made the little girl instantly feel two feet tall. _

"_What?" He snapped, a slight snuffle heard in his voice. _

"_S-Sasuke, I brought you some sunflowers." The little girl said, setting the basket gently down beside the bed, and coming to stand beside him, seeing the bandages wrapped around his forehead brought a sense of worry to the young girls eyes. _

_This didn't go unnoticed by the young boy, it was the same look his mother would give him, and he couldn't stop the tears that formed. _

_The pinkette was instantly alarmed by his tears, and before she could move his arms were wrapped around her nearly painfully, his head buried in her chest, the young girl could feel his tears leaking through her white sundress. _

"_I hate- you s-so much!" He cried, his arms clutching tighter around her, The little girl didn't understand his contradicting actions, but as her hair fell before her eyes she placed an arm on his back, and resting her chin atop his head. _

"_Sasuke, I promise- I won't ever let you hate me." _

I chewed my lip softly at the memory, that was the last time I saw Sasuke before he- Well, before he changed, becoming colder towards me, in fact, I think he's grown almost a hatred of me over the years.

Was it because when he looked at me he would remember the days when he was carefree? Did I sicken him simply because I was a part of his childhood? Or did he really hate me-

"Sakura!"

I was snapped from my thoughts to see I'd been staring off into space and all three of my teammates were staring at me like I was insane. I felt a small blush creep to my cheeks and rubbed the back of my head sheepishly.

"Eh, What?" I said lamely, seeing Sasuke turn back to look away from us.

**I'm getting frostbite from his fucking cold shoulder! **

"It's your turn to explain yourself." The silver-haired Jonin said pointedly, his eyes narrowing at me suspiciously, to which I simply raised my eyebrow and spoke on.

"Uh, I'm Sakura Haruno. I like sweets, Uh, I like reading too, I guess. Dislikes? Oh, Um, I guess I don't like **arrogant assholes who won't speak of themselves**."

My hand clapped over my mouth in an instant, and a deep red blush covered my cheeks, Now Sasuke's eyes were literally staring at me, wide and surprised, Kakashi seemed to understand the jab because he was chuckling softly, and Naruto was booming with laughter, confused as to which arrogant asshole I was speaking of.

**Score one for Sakura!**

_Yeah, until he makes us run laps around the village! Kami what use are you? _I snarled at that damn voice which was the cause of my troubles at the moment.

"Okay, moving on." Kakashi smiled, which seemed to only be seen by the slight toss of his mask and a crinkle of his eye.

And soon everyone's eyes (Including my own) rested upon Sasuke, who seemed to radiate agitation at everyone's attention being turned to him so suddenly.

With a protesting grown he continued, "I'm Sasuke Uchiha, I don't have any likes or dislikes- but I _do_ have a dream, and that dream is to kill a certain someone." He said, his voice laced with the kind of malice you can only find in the deepest pits of hell.

That seemed to silence everyone, and I could feel my fingers twitching with the urge to hit something. Itachi- He was talking about his brother, I knew that damn well, and to be honest, it pissed me off too. It was Itachi's damn fault Sasuke was like this, Why did he have to slaughter his clan? Fuck he could have left the village and killed who ever the fuck he wanted, but no, he had to ruin whatever was left of Sasuke's childhood.

I felt Kakashi's eyes on me once again, although they were widened in surprise, and I soon realized that the railing to the staircase we were sitting upon had cracked beneath my tight grip, at that moment I felt the wood splintering off and digging into my skin.

"Ah! Are you okay Sakura-Chan? Kakashi-Sensei we have to get her to the hospital!" Naruto cried, running in circles around the tree of us while I calmly pulled the few splinters from within my palm.

"Okay, So let's see here." The older man smirked once Naruto stopped running.

"The idiot." He said, pointing to Naruto.

"The weak kunoichi." He said, pointing at me.

"And, The brooding loner." He finished with a sarcastic twist as he pointed at Sasuke.

"Well, _this_ is certainly going to be fun? Isn't it students?"

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0oooo0o0 00oo0o0o0o0o000o**

**Do you like it? Hate it? C'mon! I need feedback here! I actually like this story for some reason, and it's gunna' be a long one. I feel it in my bones, (The ones in my wrist.)**

Okay, So, I know I started a little earlier, but I had to show you her childhood, some things have changed, like her attitude, her dress, her past, but it had to, If she came to Konoha and a set of parents magically appeared and she wasn't affected at all that would be a shit ton of boring and wasted time.

Now, In regards to an earlier review, There WILL be Karin bashing when the time comes. Oh Buddha there will be Karin bashing GALORE!

**-Sakura-Centric.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Part One.**

**Chapter Four; Bell Test (Remix)**

: Song to listen to for this chapter; Fireflight- Unbreakable :

**(Sakura's Pov)**

I sat in my kitchen, a cup of tea sitting in front of me, steaming, the warmth flowing into my fingertips as I watched a crow glide through the air outside my window, it had been a constant visitor, I've even fed it sometimes, it came by as if to say 'Just seeing how you were, Sakura.'

I felt my lips curl into a smile as it sat on the windowsill, staring at me through its black eyes, which seemed to hold a kind of curiosity. I knew it was the same crow, the same crow that visited me through my childhood, the same crow that would sometimes let me hold it within my hands.

My mind was drawn back to the test that lie ahead, to be honest I was slightly concerned, I knew Naruto was strong- Moron that he was- and clumsy, and Sasuke certainly knew what he was doing, and yes I'd been training, but rumor has it Kakashi has failed every student he's ever received… Was I going to be holding Sasuke and Naruto back?

My eyes flickered to the scrolls that were lying before me on the table, that I'd spent the last week memorizing, learning every hand seal, every footing movement, every stance, cramming my brain to the brim with information until I gave myself a splitting migraine.

What interested me most was puppetry, a rarity in Konohagakure shinobi, more realized in foreign villages such as Suna. But it would give me an edge, besides, it was _interesting_, the ability to control objects with chakra in itself was remarkable.

I gave a soft sigh and pinpointed the chakra to circulate through my hands, allowing it to flow through in strings and connect to the small wooden doll I had carved the night before, able to make it lift it's tiny arms, and walk a few steps, before I hissed out of pain when my chakra gates forced themselves to open wider.

I simply groaned and ran a hand over my face to push back some silvery pink tresses that had fanned over my forehead, My headband lay on the table before me along with the papery mess, I gently took the small doll into my hands, It was just a bit bigger than my hand itself, yet so hard to control…

**There aren't even any puppeteers here so there's no one to help us.** Inner groaned, long since she had given up the argument that it was a stupid skill to learn.

I ran my hand through my hair once more, gently placing the wooden doll down with a soft _clank_, my arms slightly sore. I would need to practice building up my chakra reserves, although if done too hastily it proved painful.

My stomach growled in protest and I looked to the fridge longingly, Kakashi had warned us about eating, that if we did it would cause us to puke, although what I couldn't wrap my mind around is why? As shinobi we needed to be properly nourished for our chakra to channel properly, in fact, we _shouldn't_ be throwing up unless we hadn't eaten.

"Alright, Screw this." I groaned, pulling a cup of instant beef ramen from the pantry, setting it down on the counter nervously before looking around, as if my Sensei might appear out of no where and scold me for disobeying his orders.

Another painful growl from my stomach and I was moving without thought, filling the cup with water and moving about the room, too hungry to care about the consequences at this point.

As the empty ramen cup sat in front of me all I could feel was guilt, glancing over at my bento box, I thought about chucking it out the window, but re-thought it and shoved it inside my backpack, along with my tiny wooden doll.

_Think we should tell Kakashi-Sensei?_

**Nah, Besides, we could surprise them! **Inner winked at the possibility to showboat a little for once.

I simply rolled my eyes and shouldered my backpack, an eerie sense of wander as I stepped out into the street, this was the day that decided it all, I suppose.

**0o0ooo00o0o0o0o0o0o**

As I reached the training ground I could see Sasuke, but Naruto and Kakashi were no where in sight, although I was slightly early, and a little happy I was practically alone, seeing Sasuke didn't really seem to care what I did either way, I could practice a bit with my puppetry.

I plopped down on the opposite side of the tree Sasuke was propped up against before pulling the small wooden doll from my bag and placing it gently before me. Taking a soft, deep breath to stabilize my nerves, Outstretching my slender fingers and channeling my chakra to my palm, before veining it off to side out from my fingertips, the pretty baby blue color of the chakra itself was fascinating.

As the chakra strings connected to the small arms and legs of the doll I willed it to stand, still becoming used to the subtlety of the movements of my fingers, and with a giggle I got the doll to perform a small dance, twirling and spinning across the ground like a ballerina, even managing a few graceful leaps.

I hummed softly, my lips curled into an ever-so-small smile as the doll twirled through the air.

"Sakura?"

I jumped at the deep boyish voice, and turned to see Sasuke looking at me with a curious glint in his cold eyes, which still contained the same bluish specks they did when we were children. I felt heat prickle behind my cheeks and I lost focus, the doll falling limply to the ground as the chakra strings disappeared within my hands.

"Y-Yes Sasuke?" I said softly, like talking to a spooked animal, afraid he would run away.

He shoved his hands in his pockets and looked away, toward the sky, like he always did.

"That was pretty cool." He said with a small smirk, before skulking away.

I felt the heat in my cheeks and smiled, retrieving the small doll and going through some basic things, seeing how fast I could make it move, little fighting stances, even managing to throw a few senbon with it, (Considering a Kunai was just barley smaller than the doll itself.)

Once I heard Naruto nearing, which wasn't exactly hard to do, I pulled the doll into my hand with the chakra strings, and shoving it back into my bag and pushing myself from the ground with a small grunt.

"Hey Sakura-Chan, Teme!" He smiled, offering me a wave and a thumbs-up to Sasuke, who merely snorted and turned away as if Naruto was one of his fan girls, I sighed at his coldness and rubbed my temples. Did they not understand that we were a team now?

"Hey Naruto." I nodded, at least going the extra mile to build a bond with my teammates.

The flamboyant blonde bounced up to me, His face beaming with something only Sunshine could compare to. "So, you guys ready?" He smiled, pulling at the whisker marks on the side of his face; they twitched, like that of a cat's.

I nodded and fiddled nervously with my fingers, feeling Kakashi's chakra signature approaching us, but didn't have time to say anything before a puff of smoke appeared, along with our beloved Kakashi-Sensei. His visible eye crinkling. How did he move like that? Would he teach that to us? Perhaps I'd ask later.

As he spoke I found myself growing more and more confused, all he wanted us to do was grab some bells from his person? Be it he was a Jonin, but there were three of us, and we weren't too bad, we could easily take him if we… stick… "Together…" I finished aloud to see I'd been so caught up in thought that my 'teammates' had taken to the trees, leaving me to stand awkwardly in front of the Jonin.

"Daydreaming?" He smirked, his visible eye crinkling in amusement.

I quickly braced myself, deflecting his oncoming kunai with one of my own, It skimmed the top of my hand, but it was a flesh wound and certainly didn't hurt too much, my actions seemed to surprise the Jonin because his eye twitched slightly, an almost invisible movement, but not going unnoticed.

Without saying a word my eyes darted in all directions, before sending out small probes of chakra, searching for my teammates, Naruto, who'd been caught in a trap was hanging by his ankle from a tree, and Sasuke was hidden among the bushes on the opposite side of the field.

"So that was you," Kakashi smirked, obviously referring to my chakra probes.

"Surprised?" I questioned, trying to gain more time as I spotted a perfect spot to escape into the trees. And before he could register what I was doing I had my tiny wooden doll in my place, I had disappeared within the trees using the doll itself as my substitution, and before he could even give a second glance at the doll my chakra strings had connected to it, and it was spewing senbon at the man.

**(Kakashi's Pov)**

_Interesting… _I thought, dodging the skillfully thrown senbon needles, I could easily follow her chakra trail to the trees, considering I could see it, although this was quite interesting. It was small, nearly seven or eight inches tall, and the movements were a bit sloppy, but for a genin, her use of the doll wasn't bad.

"Not good enough." I mused, appearing behind the pinkette, a kunai to her back, although as she started leaning back onto the kunai I became alarmed and pulled it back, reading to kick her from the high branch (as gently as possible) when she disappeared- the puppet along with her.

"Impressive." I mumbled, staring at the place she had once been with a smirk, She must have channeled a separate chakra reserve within the shadow clone so it could create chakra strings itself and use the mimic doll instead. Soon I felt another chakra presence approach. And what didn't surprise me was the Uchiha was _alone._

I ducked to dodge his oncoming kunai, but he had landed a pretty impressive blow on the base of my back, causing me to almost lose my balance, but at the last moment I sent a little extra spike of chakra to my feet, keeping me in place as I turned to face the raven haired boy, catching his foot mid-kick and tossing him to the ground, (Not so gently considering he hadn't been so gentle with his old Sensei)

I watched from beneath the ground as he searched for me, and at the last minute grabbed him forcefully by the ankles and pulled him beneath the ground, leaving him buried neck deep in the dirt, I must say, it certainly was an amusing sight.

I simply tsk'd the young Uchiha and pulled my favorite Icha-Icha paradise book from my pocket, scanning my favorite page as I walked away from the cold Uchiha to intercept the Uzumaki before he devoured his teammates lunch's.

I could feel Sakura-s presence nearby, and felt a small smirk curl my lips and I landed within the treetops, quickly speeding in her direction, although she could sense me nearing, she couldn't tell from which direction.

I quickly flew through a few simple hand seals, and watched her eyes cloud over as she began walking aimlessly through the forest, I would simply knock her out, and I'd go and grab her before we left the training fields.

"What else were these genin going to throw at me?" I sighed, cracking my shoulder before returning to my Icha-Icha paradise novel.

**(Sasuke's Pov)**

_Damn… _I groaned, attempting to lift my arms, but the surrounding ground kept them glued to my side, I attempted rocking from side to side, to see if I could loosen the dirt, but in return more only flowed to add on to the weight.

I could hear footsteps approaching, clearly it wasn't Kakashi, otherwise I wouldn't have heard him at all, Just preying it wasn't the dobe, I don't know if I could deal with that idiot right now, not to mention how shameful it would be for an Uchiha to be caught like this-

"S-Sasuke?"

I growled inwardly at the soft voice that invaded my ears, looking up to see the pink haired girl staring at me in horror, and opened my mouth to say something, but before a sound could come out a soft thud rang through my ears, and she came crashing backwards to the ground.

"Just great." I sighed, cursing the pink haired girl who now lay unconscious on the ground before me, Her face eerily close to my own, about two inches between us my breaths rustled the hair on the side of her cheek, and felt a slight tinge of warmth build up in my own as I leant my head backwards, to avoid the awkward closeness between us.

Suddenly, I realized her breathing was labored, and (carefully) Leant my head forward to press my forehead to her own, heaving a sharp sigh, "Chakra depletion," She was left alone with Kakashi for quite some time, I could feel her chakra spiking, but was too preoccupied on thinking of a plan to see what was going on.

I sighed, hearing clumsy, loud, fucking annoying footsteps nearing, along with a loud, annoying gasp, "SAS-"

I had to cut him off with a glare, and soon his hand was cupped over his mouth, tears spilling from his eyes with the horrendous laughter I'm glad I couldn't hear because it would most likely cause the death of my almost-teammate.

"Naruto, we need to get Sakura out of here, she's used too much chakra." I said, a hushed tone overcoming my voice as my eyes scanned for any sign of movements within the trees, aggravation growing as he heaving a last few laughs and wiped his tears, his blue eyes falling on Sakura with so much concern it actually started to piss me off for some reason, so I couldn't help the glare I shot at the blonde when he scooped Sakura up in his arms so carefully, his eyes still holding that damn annoying concern…

Why did I even care? That clearly wasn't the problem at the moment. "Naruto, Can you get me out of here?" I questioned, talking slowly, as if to an ignorant child (Which technically I was.)

He gave me some kind of mock salute; nodding vigorously before two other Naruto's appeared, digging at the dirt around me like dogs looking for a buried bone.

"Okay, so what's the plan teme?" He questioned, Sakura still in his arms (Which was starting to bother me more and more as time passed.

"Okay Naruto-"

**(Kakashi's Pov)**

I sighed and looked at the timer; they only had forty-five minutes left. I wander what they're doing. I felt a small smirk as I could sense the three chakra presences together, although Sakura's was faint, and Sasuke's was spiking in irritation, all together Naruto (Of course) Had the most chakra, and stamina. Sakura and Sasuke was a match in intelligence, although Sakura has less stamina and chakra reserves.

Although Sakura had less chakra than her teammates, the control she had over it would be impressive by Chunin standards, and the way she used her chakra made it clear she knew how to use it.

Sasuke- He would so impressive, if he had any skills to work with his team- His speed and chakra reserves are impressive, along with his intelligence, however he's just too close minded toward the others to work along with them, considering by now that thought had to have crossed his mind by now.

And Naruto, an impressive change from the stories I've heard of the immature, unintelligent, prank obsessed academy student he once was. In fact, Iruka seemed more than proud of the blonde haired nin, and his multi-shadow clone jutsu was more than impressive.

Although I couldn't help but harbor resent to some extent with these children. Sasuke reminded me so much of my younger self, spurned by hatred and coldness, and Sakura- She was so much like Rin… Painfully so, without her most obvious traits such as the silvery-pink hair and emerald eyes I would have thought she was Rin come back from the grave to haunt me. Her sweet nature- her motherly attitude towards her teammates.

And Naruto- he was practically the walking personality of Obito, the pranks, the carefree attitude, the need to prove himself…

I felt the familiar sorrow fill my heart at the thought of my comrades, as well as the thought of these children.

"Na!"

A kick came from all sides, realizing I'd been surrounded by clones of Naruto, with that large, foxy grin on his face.

"Ru!" A second kick, forcing me higher into the air, I tried to twist, but soon realized it was too late as a second pair of Naruto's appeared mid air, launching another hit, softly, clearly then were aware this was simply sparring, although it didn't hurt much.

"To!" He said as he himself appeared above me, landing a pretty harsh blow to my midsection.

"Uzumaki barrage!" He grinned, although instead of a finishing blow something strange happened, and I smirked at the familiarity of the situation as Sasuke came lunging out of the trees, in the heat of Naruto's attacks, coming at me at a decent speed, but easily maneuvered around.

I could feel Naruto's hand brush my side, but I realized all too late that it wasn't the bells he was going for, it was the book, which rose a slight panic in my chest considering I hadn't even gotten to the good part yet, that and it was a special addition, signed by Jariya himself!

Although before Sasuke could reach me I grabbed him by the wrist, however he didn't stop there, I had to catch his kick, which swung him upside down, and a second punch, which occupied my arms completely. I gave a heavy sigh, ready to scold him for coming at me alone, once again when I heard the bells chime.

"Wha-"

I couldn't move.

I turned to see Sakura, who was pale as a ghost, her eyes red tinged as she stared at me through clouded jade eyes, that held nothing but determination as I eyes the chakra strings that were connected to my wrists, holding me immobile, however the strain it took out of her was clear, she looked soon to pass out.

_Ding._

I looked to see that Sasuke had nearly pulled the bells from place, when the chakra strings wavered once again, and then disappeared completely, although instead of grabbing the bells, which he had a clear opening to, Sasuke flung himself from me, clearly the chakra strings had been holding himself in place as well, and he ran over to the pink haired girl, who had just fallen to the ground, her skin now holding near to no color.

"Test over." I mumbled, quickly coming to stand beside the Uchiha who's eyes held a slight panic, and as I reached for her he grabbed my wrist with such force I winced, "Don't touch her." He warned, the tone in his voice said he would clearly fight me over it, and I gave a sigh, turning to see Naruto speeding across the clearing just as fast.

I took slightly a step back, seeing the hostility in the raven haired boy's face as he scooped the unconscious pinkette up in his arms, a cold sweat already breaking out on her forehead, although her skin looked cold as ice.

"What happened to Sakura-Chan?" Naruto demanded, his face twisted into anger and concern as he looked to his female teammate.

"Chakra sickness." I said, walking alongside the blonde who looked like he was close to having a panic attack, as the Uchiha ahead of us wouldn't allow either of us to come close, I felt an odd sense of familiarity at the scene.

"By the way," I said loudly enough for both to hear, "You passed."

Although neither of them seemed to care, they were too focused on their teammate, this being the first time I had actually seen the somber raven haired boy show any kind of concern for his teammates, although the blonde may pass out before we even arrive at the medical ward.

I sighed, my hand resting over my pocket, where a picture of my former genin team rested, and as my eyes scanned over my own team, I felt a small smile tug at my lips, making the scar over my eye and the weight on my shoulders seem less… heavy for once.

_I'll do things right this time._

**(Sakura's Pov)**

I groaned, placing a hand to my forehead, my body felt like it was on fire, my chakra gates feeling stretched and sore. Where was I? I could hear a constant beeping noise and an annoying soreness in my forearms, and as I reached up I felt a painful tug.

I opened my eyes to see an annoyingly bright light, and had to shield my eyes, finally remembering the past couple of hours- I have no idea what came over me when I connected my chakra strings to Kakashi-Sensei like that, I was just so mad that Sasuke and Naruto left me propped up against a tree while they went and fought without me.

"Sakura-Chan?"

I jumped at the booming voice that seemed remarkably close to my ears, and turned to see my blonde haired friend standing beside the bed, and with a relieved sigh I realized we were in the medical ward- although that's not really something to be relieved by- and Naruto as well as my silver-haired sensei were standing beside my bed.

Naruto was surrounded by instant-ramen cups and Kakashi was comfortably propped up against a row of seats, his book covering most of his face, which didn't really make much of a difference considering it was mostly covered by his mask anyway.

"How are you feeling, Sakura?" His voice came smoothly, relaxing to my busted eardrums from Naruto's loud voice, which didn't seem quite so obnoxious today- almost soothing, kind of.

"I'm alright," I croaked, not realizing how thirsty I was, although as a third person entered the room holding a bottle of water out to me my cheeks lit up a bright pink, "S-Sasuke?"

"Here." He said, his eyes flickering away from me, I almost saw a hint of- relief? No… I probably imagined it.

"He-He, Teme carried you all the way here, he wouldn't even let Kakashi-Sensei or me carry you." Naruto pouted, before Sasuke thwacked him on the back of the head "Shut up, Dobe." He warned.

I instantly felt my cheeks light fire, and had to look away from the pair of boys before I realized what Naruto had said, "Wait, Kakashi-_Sensei_?" I questioned, my eyes going to the silver haired nin across the room who simply sighed and closed his perverted book, before stuffing it back into his pocket.

"But we didn't get the bells?" I questioned, not that I wasn't glad to have passed, just confused as to what happened in my unconscious state, perhaps Naruto and Sasuke retrieved the bells, but maybe- maybe I didn't pass…

"You three passed," Kakashi nodded, as if reading my mind, although he most likely saw the look of panic cross my face, "You discovered the whole point of the training, Teamwork. Sakura, you tried to aid Sasuke into getting the bells, Sasuke and Naruto, your concern for your teammate and disregard for the test in regard of her safety proved you deserve to pass." He nodded.

I offered a smile at my teammates, who looked just as relieved as I that we had passed, to tell you the truth- I don't think I could have asked for a better team.

"People who betray their village are scum, although those who betray their comrades are worse than scum." Kakashi nodded, the honesty in his words rang true as I looked over the faces of my teammates, my friends.

**00o0o0o0oooo0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o 0o0o0o0o000o00oo0o0o0o0o0ooo **

**Okay, So, I understand the Neji and Tenten issue, that was a mistake, he-he, but I'm sure I can find some weird way for it to make sense! CHA! Anywhoo, as I've said before, this is an ALTERNATE story for Naruto, Sakura is playing a completely different role while still behind herself, she's more powerful, She's who I thought she deserved to be in the anime. ^.^'**

Heh, So anyway the scenes will be different, yet the same, and they'll move a bit quicker, but trust me, this will be a long one, I'm estimating at least 35-40 chapters, and c'mon, I make nice long chapters just for _you_. 

**-Sakura-Centric**


	5. Chapter 5

**Part One.**

**Chapter Five; Tazuna the Bridge Builder! Part One!**

**(Sakura's Pov)**

I gave an angry sigh as Naruto whined and squirmed while I finished bandaging his cat-scratches, which had been a pain in the ass the entire time, especially when I was trying to clean the cuts with rubbing alcohol and he was screaming and thrashing like a moron.

We had just returned from a mission to retrieve a _cat_. Yes, we'd been pulling weeds, babysitting, grocery shopping, and looking for stray pets because we were genin and apparently that's what genin do.

**And we thought being ninja would be **_**so**_** exciting. **Inner spat, clearly annoyed with the predicament we'd been through, and although Kakashi-Sensei didn't seem to care I could tell Sasuke and Naruto were becoming restless, although it was easier to read on Naruto, who verbally stated his annoyance, and Sasuke who just held the annoyed look on his face.

We were currently sitting outside of the Third Hokage's office, waiting for him to call us in so we could give him our mission report.

**I bet you 500 ryo that damn cat runs away again. Did you see how tight that woman squeezed the poor thing? I'm surprised its head didn't pop off! **Inner sighed, I scoffed in my mind at her idiocy, and clearly she wasn't aware that my money was her money.

As two ANBU blackops appeared I stretched my arms and hopped from my seat, Kakashi-Sensei and Sasuke who were simply leaning against the wall with a bored expression on their faces followed behind the ANBU, entering the Third Hokage's office.

He was sitting at his desk, wearing traditional Kage robes, his pipe burning between his lips as he looked at us through time-wary wrinkled eyes, a small smile on his lips as his eyes scanned over Naruto's bandaged form, his eyes dancing with amusement.

"I'm trusting the mission went well?" He smiled, his eyes looking to Kakashi, who gave a nod and placed a manila colored file on the older Kage's desk with a respectful bow.

"When are you gunna' give me a real mission old man! I'm a real ninja, and I want a ninja mission!" Naruto wailed, and although Kakashi-Sensei smacked him in the back of the head for his disrespect I could see in everyone's eyes that they were tired of it as well, myself included, I was beginning to feel like everyone's personal lackey.

**Isn't that all ninja really are? Tools without minds to their Kage? **Inner had taken on a darker tone, and her words had my head spinning for an answer, although it was the truth. If it was a bad thing or not was up for debate.

As the Kage spoke of missions and ninja status that linked us to the missions Naruto had somehow pestered him enough to give us a C-rank mission, which would mean we would possibly deal with some bandits, but nothing more, usually C-rank missions were given to Chunin, but seeing as Naruto was pushing so hard must have convinced the Third to give us a chance, I couldn't say I was excited, but I couldn't say I wasn't either.

My eyes widened as the smell of alcohol and musk reached my nostrils, and a door opened to reveal an old man, a bottle of sake pursed to his lips. "What is this? A bunch of brats and a runt?" He exclaimed with a bitterness that only came from sour old men.

"He-he, who's the… runt…" Naruto trailed off as Sasuke and I came to stand on either side of him, showing that he was the shortest out of the three of us, "Hey! We're ninja! Don't insult us!" Naruto snapped, Kakashi-Sensei having to hold him back.

"Naruto! We're supposed to protect him! _Not assault him_!" He tried to pull back the blonde, with an unending amount of stamina.

I sighed and watched the two, I'd come to enjoy the presence of Naruto- He was annoying, Yeah, but in an almost good way. Something only knucklehead Naruto would be capable of turning into a favorable trait.

And as for Sasuke- Well, I could feel him becoming closer to the blonde as well, although putting more distance between me and him than usual, I guessed it had something to do with the survival training- which I was still terribly embarrassed about.

I'd practiced non-stop on my puppetry jutsu, getting better and better as the days passed, and smiling as I remembered the much larger puppet model I'd built at home from scratch, it wasn't fancy, thrown together from all the information I could gather, Although I did notice something- Kakashi-Sensei seemed… Distant to me, He put all of his power and time into Sasuke and Naruto, and even though they didn't seem to notice, it still hurt to see.

I had since taken to the library, spending hour upon hour cramming what little chakra puppetry information I could within my mind, along with chakra control, any information possible on chakra reserves, and many, many other things.

I knew Kakashi-Sensei didn't expect much of me, although I'd come to terms with it didn't take the hurt away, and I'd began to feel a kind of resent to the man, even some toward my teammates, who wouldn't even take the time to spar with me, Sasuke proclaiming me annoying and storming off, Naruto wouldn't take me seriously and Kakashi-Sensei just disappeared after we trained so it was useless to try with him.

I sighed, my walk home was lonely without the chattering blonde, but as I rounded the corner to my apartment complex I was nearly grateful he wasn't here, I'd had an odd feeling lately, my birthday was next week, although I didn't feel like saying anything to anyone, it was usually a lonely time for me, Sit at home, bottle of Sake, ponder the meaning of existence, Yeah, Sounds about right.

**I'm surprised you don't get alcohol poisoning.**

I snorted in response. _Yeah, me too. _

Highly amused I went to my bedroom, pulling a travel backpack from beneath my bed, running my fingers over the coarse fabric with an acidic look on my face. I'd had this bag for as long as I remember, yet never knew where it came from, like some of my other belongings.

With a sigh I decided to quit thinking about it, lest I work myself up for nothing.

I gathered up all of my tools, sharpening each of my kunai, shuriken, and sticking a few senbon in my bag, as well as a few soldier pills and simple articles of clothing. Just the bare basics, it wouldn't be very fun to walk to wave with thirty pounds of unnecessary belongings on my back, now would it?

As I finished packing I slid the bag beneath my bed once more, feeling more accomplished than I had when I left the Kage tower. My head was silent for once, no inner thoughts, no memories, just an empty, dull ache that spread through my chest until it became nearly painful.

I uttered a sharp sigh and went to the kitchen, pulling the half-empty bottle of sake from the cupboard, not bothering to heat it as I poured a tall glass of the biting liquid.

"Here's to forgetfulness" I toasted in the emptiness of my home.

No birds sang that night, no crow to come visit me, no crickets chirped.

Just silence.

**0o0o0o0o000o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

**Short chapter, I'll update soon, maybe even tonight.**

**-Sakura-Centric**


	6. Chapter 6

**Part One. **

**Chapter Six; Tazuna the Bridge Builder! Part Two!**

**(Sakura's Pov, Still)**

I sighed, noticing the other's already at the gate, Kakashi had surprisingly not shown up late, but he remained silent and aloof, as if it didn't bother him much either way, but I could tell something was bothering him. I didn't really know why he was always late, and didn't bother asking, it's not like him being there made a difference to me or not. I'd start training once I got to the field while the other two waited for Kakashi most of the time, sometimes Sasuke and Naruto would join in, but for the most part they simply fought with one another.

My head was bobbing slightly, my brain a mixture of irritation and pain from the undeniable hangover I was suffering, although I'd done well enough to hide it, I was always pale, so that part wasn't noticeable, I'd splashed some freezing water on my face to bite back the tired look I had, but it was the way my limbs felt heavier, the way it almost burned my brain to take any steps.

"Hey, Sakura-Chan!" Naruto greeted with a beaming smile, his voice causing me to flinch slightly, clearly not enough to stop the blonde from talking, and talking, and talking. Sasuke's questionable glare wasn't helping either, so highly irritated already I grabbed on to the straps of my backpack and came to walk beside Kakashi-Sensei and Tazuna, not really wanting the company of the men, just enjoying the pleasant silence that rose between the two.

As we were coming across the way- I did notice something rather odd, it seemed almost insignificant, yet a pit in my stomach told me otherwise, It was a puddle, yet it hadn't rained in days, so where could it have come from? I was about to ask Kakashi-Sensei, but sensing an oncoming chakra presence I stepped in front of the two men, more so Tazuna than Kakashi (Clearly he didn't need _her_ protection, of all people.)

**(Kakashi's Pov)**

He'd been wrong about her; she wasn't daft, not by the slightest. That sly little pink haired student of his, for the first time he got to notice what she was doing, which started when she had found a haven of silence between the elderly bridge builder and I.

But as we passed a puddle- which much to my amusement was a painfully obvious giveaway, shame on the rogue ninja that thought that would fool anyone- I could see her jade eyes linger on it a moment longer than it would have just any other puddle. Her muscles tightened, her eyes scanning the area like a cat cornered and ready to pounce on the first thing that came her way.

And as soon as I felt a chakra presence peak I prepared to move, but found myself frozen in curiosity as the smaller girl quickly appeared before the bridge builder, and even himself, although as she should be, she was more preoccupied with keeping the bridge builder safe.

This had not gone unnoticed by Sasuke or Naruto, because they were suddenly alert, eyes scanning the density of trees, Kunai's in hand, although their response was shamefully slow considering that the one I once believed to be the weakest point of the team, not because of her _per say_, but the fact that she let her emotions rule her actions, besides, more or less she was capable, he needed to focus on keeping Naruto and Sasuke tame, with not only each other, but themselves.

As chains shot out from the treetops, wrapping and constricting around the small girl my heart froze, and I went into panic mode, the two boys watched in pure shock as the chains tightened, and tore her apart, blood staining and splattering across our clothing.

"One down." A husky voice snickered from the treetops, finally revealing himself, a missing rain nin, mere Chunin level at most, but still, we were not aware we would be encountering anything but bandits of civilian nature, if that. I would have to have a talk with the bridge builder after this little incident.

"You did nothing!" A loud snarl erupted from behind me, and I had to dodge the blonde's maniac kick by swiping to the side.

"Naruto! Stop acting like a child! Sasuke, protect the bridge builder!" I barked, my voice still hoarse and a bit struggled, trying to hold in my horror from the scene that had just played before my eyes.

**(Sakura's Pov)**

That substitution hadn't taken much out of me, it was fleeing underground that had taken a good proportion of my chakra, (Thanks to Kakashi-Sensei for making me notice the trick he had used on Sasuke during the bell test, heh.)

I could feel the spike in Kakashi's chakra the second I put the substitution into act, although I may have gone over board with the blood and all- it seemed to cause a spike in both Naruto and Sasuke's chakra, The jerks deserved it for thinking I'd be killed so easily, if any of them would take the time to spar with me they'd see I was the same level as them- at least close enough to hold my own.

I sprang forth from the ground, chakra strings shooting from my fingertips in an instant, attaching to the wooden puppet I'd used as my substitution, a compartment on its left arm opened to reveal a poison dipped blade, as it charged forward I could feel the eyes of my teammates watching me.

"Kakashi-Sensei! Subdue him now; I can't hold this jutsu long!" I barked, the arms of the puppet clamping around the raving rouge Nin, knowing he was _actually there_, I hadn't given him enough time to create any clones or substitution genjustu.

Kakashi swiftly knocked the man out, although there was still one more, and the second nin seemed less than pleased he'd been tricked, this being duly noted as he charged at me head on, the chain-blade mechanism shooting from the metal cuff on his wrist, and missing me by a whisker, cutting a few silvery locks in the process.

I had nearly no chakra left, but I was able to pump a decent size into my feet to give me a decent amount of speed so I could manage to doge the man quickly enough, but that seemed to be his plan as two chains shot from his cuffs, criss-crossing before me, the blow gave me no room to escape, I didn't have enough chakra left in me to flee underground or to the treetop.

My heart smacked against my rib-cage as time seemed to move in slow motion, and even then the blur of inky black hair was too quick for my eyes to catch, a sharp metal against metal noise filled my ears, and seemed to ring over and over.

"S-Sasuke?"

He grunted, clearly struggling to keep the man at bay, I was frozen to place, black spots entering my vision, My hands went unconsciously to my shoulder where the man that Sasuke was holding back had snagged me while I was dodging, I didn't think much of it until now, which is when I realized.

"Poison…" Was the last thing to slip through my lips before I hit the ground.

**(Sasuke's Pov)  
**

_Damn her. _I raved within my head, Why couldn't she just leave this to us? It was clear she wasn't ready for this, She shouldn't have been a ninja, She shouldn't have even joined the academy, Why did her parents allow her to do this? Were they not aware of how sensitive she was? She could break so easily.

I grunted and pushed forward once more, noticing only now that a kunai was not exactly the best choice in this.

"Poison…"

The word broke my concentration, as well as the harsh thud of a body hitting the ground, Sakura's.

"Damn it." I cursed, re-gaining my composure, "Kakashi!" I barked, eyes frantically searching for the silver haired man, although the rather large nin before me obscured my vision for the most part, before I realized he was pushing me back, my feet skidded across the dirt, rustling up the dust as they did so,

The man was off me in an instant, Kakashi had managed to knock him off his feet, his blades were pulled back in an instant, the chains pulling them back into the cuffs in an instant.

"Naruto, Grab Sakura." Kakashi ordered, although as I turned to peer at the blonde, he was frozen in place, his blue eyes wide in horror, and with an annoyed sigh I threw the unconscious girl over my shoulder, grunting at the weight difference, she seemed to toss at that, and I sighed, shifting so she was in a more comfortable place and my shoulder wasn't digging into her abdomen.

I turned to smirk at the blonde, who only then seemed to come back to reality, and was now glaring at me, I guessed it was for the girl who was hanging over my shoulder.

"What's the matter? Scardy cat." I mocked, turning to face away from the blonde who was now fuming, not that I really cared.

About thirty minutes had passed, and Naruto and I were sitting on either side of Sakura, who was finally beginning to re-gain consciousness, Kakashi had just finished getting information from the mist nin, before rendering them unconscious (Or perhaps killing them, I wasn't sure.)

**(Sakura's Pov)**

"What happened?" I asked, turning my head to see the blonde staring at me with big blue eyes, a comforting sight compared to the immense burning sensation in my shoulder, while I knew a little medical Ninjutsu, I could only heal shallow cuts such as this, I had no idea in the slightest how to identify poison and create antidotes, I hadn't gotten to that chapter in the medical text just yet.

"Oi! Sakura-Chan, you were-"

"Poisoned." A cold, yet concerned voice answered, and I meekly turned my head to meet the grayish eye of my Sensei, who was crouched down before me, gauze and rubbing alcohol in hand.

"We need to get you back to the village before it travels any further into your bloodstream-"

"No!" I protested, cutting off the silver-haired Jonin, before a pink tint graced my cheeks, I winced slightly at the jerking motion I made as I tried to reach for my pack, before realizing I couldn't get it myself, I turned hesitantly to the person sitting to my left, "Sasuke, could you reach into my pack and get the medical book?" I asked weakly, cursing myself for once again falling weak compared to my teammates, who were completely unscathed.

I felt the bag rustling behind me as Sasuke shifted my weight to pull it from my back, hesitating when I winced at the motion, before swiftly and carefully (Dare I say it) pulling it from my back, and sifting through it to find the requested literature.

He nodded and handed me the small book, I took it carefully into my hands and flipped through it, finding the chapter on poisons and skimming the page, not a sound being uttered by my teammates during the silence, I blushed slightly when I finished, turning to face Kakashi-Sensei, who was watching me with curiosity and patience, I handed him the book, making sure to keep my thumb wedged between the cover so he could read from the page I was.

I had a feeling this was going to hurt.

**(Kakashi's Pov)**

I sighed after I finished reading the page, now understanding the small pinkette's flushed cheeks and embarrassed look, before standing from my crouch and offering a hand to the small girl, noticing the oblong glances from my other students.

"You two keep watch over Tazuna, We'll be right back." I answered, ignoring the glares from the two young boys, who grudgingly agreed to do as I asked, both clearly concerned for their fragile teammate.

"Come with me, Sakura." I nodded, walking beside the injured girl until we were well out of sight from the other three males, coming to sit beside a small stream, an ample spot for such an action.

"Can you remove your shirt?" I questioned, watching her nod and pull the black garment over her head, her chest was well-bound with black binding material, but blood was soaking the grey cloth, and I saw just how deeply the cut was, it wasn't enough to cause pain, but certainly enough to cause pain, and give her a nice dose of that poison.

I pulled a kunai from my pouch and gave her a questioning glance, "You don't have to do this Sakura, we can take you back to the village. You have nothing to prove." I said, although I knew she had already made up her mind.

"Do it."

I sighed before placing a hand firmly on her unwounded shoulder, bracing her to assure she would hold still, holding the kunai over the cut, before digging it into her shoulder, slicing it quickly across, allowing the poison to bleed out of the wound, the purple liquid was noticeable as it mixed with the crimson blood that flowed down her shoulder.

She hadn't screamed, I noted only the immense density that came over the shoulder I had a firm grip on. I was behind her, so I couldn't see her facial expression, I simply assumed that the wound had gone numb.

As I leaned forward to take the medical tape she had been holding I paused, hand still outstretched as I caught glimpse of her face, twisted into immense pain, tears dripped down her cheeks, pooling on the dark fabric of her pants, darkening tiny droplets.

"You're a strong girl." I said proudly, before taking the medical wrap from her and starting to clean and bandage the wound once I was sure the poison had bled out of her system.

As she slipped her shirt over her head and went to stand up she swayed dangerously to the side, had I not caught her forearm she would have fell harshly to the ground below, and with a sigh I began digging through one of my pouches.

"Here," I murmured, holding the small grey capsule out to her, which she stared at with a questioning look, eyebrows furrowing slightly.

"It'll help restore some of the blood you've lost." I nodded, before dropping it into her small hand.

"Arigato." She nodded before popping the capsule into her mouth, and uttering a chuckle as her nose crinkled at the bitter taste.

As she made her way back to the others I looked down at the kunai I had used to cut the poison from her shoulder, a blood caked on the surface, I felt a sad smile tug at my lips as I placed it firmly within the bark of the great oak tree before me.

No enemy would deserve a kunai that had saved a life, it would be a waste to use it on anything else.

**(Sakura's Pov)**

My shoulder was still hurting, but instead of a burning, searing pain it had turned into almost a dull ache, something I could bear, the blood restoring capsule had taken a lot of chakra out of me, (A side effect Kakashi-Sensei had not been kind enough to acknowledge.) Although I wasn't as unbalanced and sleepy as before, We were nearing the land of wave, Tazuna had a man take us via boat.

"So Tazuna." Kakashi sensei cut in through the silence that seemed to be as thick as the fog that surrounded us, touching everything in sight. Although you could see in the old man's eyes that he knew he was caught, a sad look coming over his eyes.

"We were not aware there were ninja after you, care to tell us why?" Kakashi questioned, with the same casualty he used when asking a question as normal as 'How was your day', although the hardness within the depths of his eyes was visible.

The older man gave a sigh. "A man names Gato does not want me to finish building the bridge- it would change the village for the better, pulling us out of the poverty that's plagued my people for years since the man has come. He kills- or rather his group of thugs, kill anyone that _tries_ to stand against him. He's brought drugs into the village, using it at his disposal to earn the money to pay his mercenaries. My people are too poor to afford to pay the price for a higher rank of mission, I'm sorry I deceived you. I'll understand if you don't continue with the mission." He said, a look of sadness clouding his wrinkled features, "My poor grandson will of coarse blame you for allowing his poor old grandfather to die,"

**Stupid guilt-tripping old man…** Inner grumbled, I agreed silently. Watching Kakashi-Sensei heave a heavy sigh before returning his gaze to the elder man, "We will continue with the mission."

"All right!" Naruto cheered, clearly not aware of the dangers that lie ahead

_Although, none of us were really. _

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o **

**Okay, so my wording is a bit off, but I can't clearly remember this part of the show and don't want to have to back-track that far. I apologize for stopping at this point, it's probably getting a little annoying, ne?**

**The next chapter will be up soon! Promise!**

**Oh, and Zabuza makes his appearance! Believe it!**

**Hehehe, until next time, readers. **

**-Sakura-Centric**


	7. Chapter 7

**Part One.**

**(A/N: Okay, So I'm not sure if any of you are wondering why Sakura's chakra runs out so fast, She's a genin, Okay? And she's on her way to strength, I don't want to spoil her just **_**yet**_**, she's going to have to earn it. But don't worry, She'll be kicking ass soon enough!)**

**By the way; Sakura seems to want to say something!**

_**Sakura**_**: Could all of you assholes quit patronizing me?! What the hell is with the treatment of heroines in this damn anime?! I get that I was annoying as a genin, but I've showed the most improvement in shippuden out of the kunoichi, I mean- What the fuck! Come on guys! This is **_**bullshit**_**! Hinata's character raised points for **_**saying Naruto's name **_**in a sexy way! And what do I get for killing an S-class Akatsuki, POISONED? Nada!**

_Hidan: _**I agree, Sakura is fucking amazing and everyone who has shit to say about her can get on their knees and **_**suck my Jashin-worshiping cock!**_

Sakura-Centric: **Ehem. Well Hidan, that was very graphic, but I couldn't agree more. **

**Chapter Seven; **Zabuza! Sword-Wielding Demon! Part One!

**(Sakura's Pov)**

"I go no further." The man that was once rowing the boat said, his tone so hushed it could only barley be called a whisper, Kakashi-Sensei nodded to the man, and carefully stepped onto land, where the mist was just barley lightening up, although the hot, humid feeling hung in the air, making me miss Konoha's dry, windy weather.

He offered a hand to me, which I took carefully, hoisting myself out of the boat with a small grunt, before my other teammates joined us, the silence remained though. Tazuna was the last from the boat, and as Kakashi-Sensei turned to continue through the forest I began to wander just how far we would have to go before we would get there.

Naruto looked like he was daydreaming, and Sasuke was almost painfully silent, not that I really expected anyone to say anything, the situation had been quite tight ever since Tazuna had finally explained why we were attacked at the borders of Konoha.

I sighed and my hand went to my shoulder, pressing to the wound softly, before pushing a small amount of chakra in, as I said, I could only head shallow cuts, so It didn't heal very deeply, but enough to stop the pain, and even numb it a little.

**You **_**should**_** have taken that class at the academy! But nooo- It was a 'gender bias.' **Inner spat with more sarcasm than I even thought possible for anything within my own mind, but then again, my mind did have a way of surprising me.

_If I had taken that class I would have had to have learned cooking and sewing and nonsense that wasn't fair! Ino didn't take the class either… besides- it _was,_ it could only be taken by __**kunoichi**__. _I continued, somehow a little annoyed that my own mind wasn't agreeing with me.

Maybe I was insane. Was this normal for people to do? Argue with the voices in their own head? Yes, I was certainly as crazy as an old drunk.

"I'm sorry for what happened back there Sakura, I didn't know you'd freeze up like that." Kakashi spoke up, riling something inside of me with his little comment.

"I was out of chakra." I snapped.

"I see." Was his only response to my outburst, but I could see that damn smirk of his a mile away. Humph, _Kakashi Sensei, You're such an asshole. _

I crossed my arms in annoyance, when suddenly Naruto charged in front of the group, looking around like a maniac before shouting 'There!' and tossing a kunai into a bush (Giving nearly everyone a heart attack)

"Naruto you baka!" I cursed once I caught my breath.

"Naruto! Kunai aren't toys! You could have hurt someone." Kakashi scolded.

"I wasn't joking! Something really was there!" He whined.

Naruto ran to the kunai to retrieve it, only to reveal he'd nearly killed a poor rabbit in the crossfire, before clutching the fuzzy animal and holding it to his chest, rubbing it on his face and acting like his usual baka self.

"Naruto you're going to _suffocate _it!" I sighed, rubbing my temples in annoyance; clearly Naruto hadn't noticed that the poor animal's eyes looked like they were about to pop out of their sockets.

"Oh I'm so sorry bunny!" Naruto cried, releasing the poor creature which quickly (In fear of it's life no doubt) escaped into the woods. Kami Naruto was a handful. I watched in silent annoyance as Naruto scurried closer to Sasuke and I, before tripping over his damn sandals- _very_ shinobi-like move, I might add-

Naruto may be the luckiest baka alive, because the second he hit the ground he _just barley_ missed becoming decapitated by the biggest, thickest sword I'd ever seen in my entire life, reminding me of a butcher-knife from some kind of fucked up horror movie-

**We're shinobi; our entire lives are horror stories. **Inner sighed, not affected by the insane situation, Everyone's eyes shot to the direction the sword had landed in, a rouge mist-nin (From which I could tell by his slashed headband, Duh.) that looked like he stood at nearly seven-feet-tall, his lower face was covered with tightly wrapped bindings, I vaguely remembered him from the bingo book, at least his face, I couldn't exactly remember, I was half tempted to reach into my backpack and check

"Zabuza Momochi." Kakashi's voice had completely changed from the level-headed, lazy sensei they had become accustomed to. I stepped back on instinct, something inside of me shaking slightly at the danger, wanting to run in fear, but another part of me shaking with pure excitement at a real battle.

Naruto charged kunai in hand, clearly feeling the anticipation for someone to make a move that was affecting Sasuke and myself, but I remained in front of the bridge builder, besides Sasuke, whom was in a familiar stance as my own, in a battle crouch, kunai in hand.

Kakashi-Sensei's hand jutted out, stopping Naruto in his tracks without offering the blonde so much as a glance or explanation, "Naruto, protect the bridge builder. This man is out of your league." Kakashi warned, his voice laced with malice that lead me to believe he knew more about the mist-nin before us than he was leading on to.

Naruto pouted slightly as he too came to stand in formation besides Sasuke and myself, him and Sasuke bracing the sides, myself in the middle, each of us had a kunai drawn and in battle stance, ready to attack, although the beating of my heart didn't slow, pounding harshly on my rib cage.

"Kakashi Hatake, The copy-cat." The giant of a man shorted, dropping to his feet and yanking the sword from the tree with a single hand, leaning it against his shoulder as he eyed us hungrily. "And I see you have a group of brats with you, eh?"

Kakashi seemed to ignore his statement, and stepped ahead of us, his hand coming to his hiate, the one that covered his eye, I couldn't look away as he pushed it up, his eye- he had the sharringan, but he wasn't an Uchiha, the only one's left were Sasuke-

**And **_**Itachi,**_ **Brace yourself, this isn't going to be easy, it's not training anymore Sakura, this man will kill you. **Inner warned, a mental image of her cracking her knuckles filled my mind and I nodded, my sweaty hands gripping tighter on the Kunai within my hands.

Sasuke's eyes were wide, as he stared at Kakashi, I knew why he looked so curious, although Naruto was completely daft to the situation- the only reason I knew was because I'd spent time around the Uchiha's as a child. How Kakashi got it had to be taken from another Uchiha, because it was only in one eye, and it was a bloodline dojutsu, so he couldn't inherit it. Did Kakashi-Sensei- No, it had to have been given to him, he wouldn't have-

**Pay attention you stupid girl! We don't have the luxury of daydreaming at a moment like this! This is what you've trained for your whole life!**

"I'm honored to see your Sharringan, Hatake. That must mean you see me a threat." The rogue mist-nin barked, I couldn't tell if he was smiling or not- but the bandages covering his mouth tossed slightly, as if he were smirking, the corners of his eyes crinkling like Kakashi's did when he smiled. "I suppose since we're getting serious I might as well quit toying!" He grinned, making a hand seal as mist began thickening around us.

I started to panic, I couldn't see anything, and Naruto and Sasuke were merely silhouettes now, although they were only feet beside me, I inclined my head back, craning my neck to make sure Tazuna was still there, I noticed his shadowed figure and breathed a sigh of relief.

**We're not safe just yet- I think it would be wise to release Hanami, and check for his chakra signature while you're at it- but don't make it obvious- I can hear Kakashi-Sensei and his battle, they aren't far, but it sounds like Kakashi is holding his own.**

_Hai. _I nodded, reaching for my pack, sifting around the find the broad scroll within, my shoulder was still aching, and my chakra was still low, although some of it had returned after I'd eaten that protein bar, but I could at least protect the bridge builder with the better half of my abilities, it was my first serious mission, and I was going to treat it as such.

I could hear Sasuke and Naruto's sharp intake of breath at the movements of me shifting as I bit into the pad of my thumb with my canine's and running the bloody thumb over the surface of the scroll, hearing the loud pop, chakra strings racing from my fingertips and attaching to the puppet.

Hanami was quite a piece of work, it stood nearly seven and a half feet tall (About the height of the giant mist nin ahead of us), and I did quite a nice painting it, if I do say so myself. CHA.

I sent out a probe of chakra, feeling something coming our way- not a person but-

"Duck!" I growled rocking back to knock the old man behind me down on his knees as I pulled Hanami forward, twirling my fingers to manipulate the large puppet into blocking the large sword with one of the Katana's that jutted from its palm, keeping the shadow clone from slicing through our charge.

"Ooh, look, the little kitten has claws." The giant clone rasped, I felt myself chill at his words that were directed at _me_, they felt like they could cut through me quicker than his sword could.

"Don't speak to Sakura-Chan, you bastard!" Naruto growled, charging at the shadow clone with a kunai drawn, but by then Kakashi-Sensei had stopped the attack by slicing through the clone. I felt a snarl building up in my throat- I thought this would be my chance, to prove my worth in the eyes of my Sensei.

I sighed, scratching the back of my head in annoyance as the mist cleared, and Kakashi was fighting Zabuza once more, and with an annoyed snort I plopped down the the ground, willing Hanami to sit as well as I crossed my legs and turned to the older man behind me, looking like he was about to have a heart attack, "You alright?"

The old man nodded his mouth hanging slightly open.

"Sakura! Where the hell did that thing come from?" Naruto gaped, poking at Hanami like an idiot, completely oblivious to the seriousness of the situation; I groaned and made Hanami smack the boys hands away from its woken surface, which earned a surprised, and girly, yelp from my blonde haired teammate.

Our attention was pulled back to the fight between Kakashi and Zabuza as a water prison of some sort trapped Kakashi, although it seemed Zabuza couldn't move his arm, it didn't mean anything, he could create jutsu single-handedly.

I breathed in the scent of fear rolling off of my teammates and I, It had a sour kind of aftertaste; death.

I braced myself, keeping my concerned eyes on my teammates and the elder man behind me as Zabuza created a shadow clone that stood in the distance between us, and our Sensei, the one person who could assure the safety of our charge, and ourselves.

"Run! Get the bridge builder to safety!" He screamed, his voice full of command, but I know he was thinking the same thing we were, run, and die, or stay, fight, and maybe keep ourselves and the bridge builder alive to see tomorrow, you could hear the doubt in his voice, a very unbecoming tone to the ever so certain Sensei of ours.

"We aren't leaving you, Sensei!" Naruto scowled, even though his hands were shaking, his voice held the confidence and pride any leaf shinobi should hold, and I couldn't help but smile at the thought, had we been in a different situation, I may have hugged him.

"You have to go! You must protect the bridge builder!" Kakashi growled, his voice escalating in what almost seemed like concern, but it was more likely for Naruto and Sasuke than me.

"What happens then? Zabuza kills you, and kills all of us before we even reach the village. You're the one chance of success for this mission." I stated, eerily calm. It irked me somehow how natural this felt, like I'd been fighting for something all my life and this was just a road I'd crossed before.

What's been happening to me lately? I've been eager to fight, to bleed, not even thinking of consequences until I was already having poison bled out of me by my dear old Sensei. It all just came so naturally, so- comfortably.

**We were trained and bred for battle, Sakura. All we are is weapons of destruction.**

Kakashi seemed to have shrunk back, realizing we were right. Sasuke and Naruto were pulling and readying weapons from their pack with shaking hands. I took a deep breath and checked my chakra reserves, good if not excellent, my shoulder had stopped aching, most likely thanks to the fresh batch of adrenaline running through my veins.

But there was something else pumping through my blood- something I knew all too well, something I couldn't allow myself to forget no matter how much I wanted to pretend it wasn't there. The feeing that ran through my veins to the center of my very being, you ask? Pure, unscathed exhilaration.

I turned to Tazuna, who, for once, looked like he was deep in thought, wisdom floating about in his wrinkled charcoal eye. His eyes found mine and the words slipped effortlessly from my lips, "Are you sure?"

His mouth turned into a hard line, a look of understanding and admiration crossed his features, I couldn't say the look was unbecoming on the elderly man. "You must do what you can to save your Sensei."

My shoulder pulsed in agreement, as if the wound itself was eager to get revenge on another rogue nin. Naruto's oceanic blue eyes shifted from me to Sasuke, a wide grin broke out across his face as his grip firmed on the kunai in his hand, "Come on guys, let's go _wild_."

Sasuke snorted in agreement and I simply smirked, willing Hanami to stand from the ground as I lazily flicked back my index finger, the small movement causing a poison dipped blade to shoot out from the palm of the puppet, the beautiful painted smile turning sinister as the mouth slowly began to open, a steel tube beginning to show if you looked within the puppets mouth, although he wouldn't be lucky enough to get that close.

"Mm. Look at what we've got here, a few genin brats. I must say, I'm not impressed." The clone's voice was rasp, and eyes feral, as if a lion stalking antelope, his eyes bringing on a feeling of being cornered, even with the vast space between the rogue nin and ourselves.

I felt no fear, only a spike of anger, and Hanami was moving quickly, Naruto and Sasuke watching in wander, as if surprised I'd been the first to make a move. To be honest, I was surprised too. But it was too late to regret the attack, and I let Hanami twirl and dance through the air, evading the larger man's attacks by an inch at a time, if that.

The real Zabuza's eyes were on me, I could feel them, and the icy, uncomfortable glare couldn't be evaded. But I didn't dare take my own eyes off the fight; Zabuza had drawn his blade, and was now making wide, messy cuts at the wooden friend of mine. I had slowly begun to understand his fighting style; he worked best at mid to close range fighting techniques, relying on brute force. He didn't seem to use any genjustu, aside from the thick mist, from the fight with Kakashi; I noticed he favored the water dragon technique, as most water-based jutsu yielders did. It used a small amount of chakra, and had almost a seventy-two percent success rate.

I grunted as one of His blows struck Hanami directly in the chest, causing more pressure on the chakra strings that connected to the wooden vessel, I mewled slightly over the pain in my forearms from the further opening of my chakra gates, but simply took a slow, even breath, letting everything flow naturally.

Sasuke and Naruto weren't doing anything, which was actually starting to piss me off, "Hey guys, If you hadn't noticed, I can't fucking do this by myself!" I snarled, but as my eyes flickered to them my pulse raced tenfold. They had a daze look on their faces. But as Sasuke turned to me, his eyes narrowed.

"Genjustu." I whispered, ducking away from Sasuke's offending kick, trying to keep Hanami in place as well, my eyes wandered to the real Zabuza, who was clearly pleased with himself. I couldn't dispel the Genjustu and fight Sasuke and Naruto off in the meantime. And surely the clone Zabuza wouldn't sit back and watch peacefully.

I panicked slightly while sing Hanami to block one of Naruto's kunai, and I myself ducked to avoid the swipe of Zabuza's sword, my heart was racing in my chest as I realized I really was completely alone in this fight, against my own comrades, two of the strongest genin I know, and a rogue nin who's way out of my league.

**I like those odds. **Inner grinned, a feral, sharp grin. Something in me seemed to purr at that, and I felt my jade eyes harden and zero in on my opponents; it was like I could see everything, every movement, every kick, punch, slice, ahead of time.

Everything that didn't have fighting instinct in it seemed to be erased from my mind at that moment.

"You're not bad for a genin." The cone's rasped voice echoed from behind me, but Hanami was already behind him, a feral, razor sharp grin on it's features as it attempted to slice through the giant of a man's spine, but the clone moved out of the way in a fraction of a second of time.

I snarled and grunted as Sasuke's foot came crashing into my abdomen, and lurched forward_, hard_. The blow was powerful, and for a moment I thought I was going to spill the contents of my stomach, but a small amount of healing chakra helped that, and my own foot lashed out to return the favor to Sasuke, who grunted, but didn't stop attacking.

Dodge, kick, punch, roll, twist, it was becoming meshed into my mind, and I was slowly losing grip of my concentration and chakra control, I snarled and ducked at the swipe of Zabuza's sword, but it was coming too fast, and too direct, so I did the one thing I could think of.

I pumped chakra over the palms of my hands, Hanami being momentarily forgotten as my hands caught the massive sword just a hare away from my face, I could feel the pressure, the close was shoving me forward, and I grunted at the effort, the blade starting to slice through my hands.

I winced at the pain, but it was mostly bearable, and began pumping healing chakra into my palms, as my jade eyes connected with the large mist nin's. "Ungh, is this how one of the seven deadly swordsmen will die? At the hands of a genin, just barely out of the academy?" I smirked, trying to bide my time, maybe get him mad enough so he would pull back his sword for another swipe, just for the hell of it.

His laugh was throaty, and vibrated through the sword, "Don't get ahead of yourself, Hime. Why don't you join me? I see so much potential in you." The clone smirked, and I felt my heart stop for a moment, but restart tenfold as I snorted, "I don't lower myself to the ranks of rogue nin, Mamochi." I spat, seeing the amusement dance through his eyes.

"Fine. Have it your way, Hime." And with that, he drew back his sword for the final attack, giving me the small window of opportunity I needed; I quickly retreated, racing straight for the real Zabuza.

At least; that's what should have happened.

No, Instead of a retreat, I moved a fraction of an inch before Naruto's arms snagged on to mine, twisting my own behind my back to hold me into place, I watched the sword come down, and in one, painfully slow moment, I hardly noticed the blood that splattered onto Naruto's cheeks, or my own.

No, the world seemed to fall silent as Zabuza Mamochi's sword was driven deep into the muscles of my shoulder, ligaments tore, and the sword itself actually sliced through my collar bone, the impact of it actually dying down, and I regained my sense of hearing, and sadly, feeling.

I didn't scream, I didn't cry. No, the fogginess in my head wouldn't allow that. My world seemed to be tilting sideways, filled with the cackling of the mist giant, and the determined look in Naruto's eyes, my blood caking over almost every inch of his jumpsuit, in harsh splatters and smears from him holding me in place.

"You should have taken the offer, girl. Such a shame to see such promise go." Zabuza's voice echoed from across the clearing, and a smirk spread across the clone's face as he continued to burry his sword deeper into my shoulder. Although the look of disappointment on his face was priceless, I did not scream, did not cry. Not even when Sasuke aimed a kunai for the junction of my shoulder, and hit. Not even at Naruto's pleased laughter, not even at the feeling of my blood slowly decreasing to nothing.

I would not give him the satisfaction.

"You know, Mamochi." I spoke my voice hoarse and slurred as my head rolled forward, as if becoming to heavy for my neck, my fringed bangs covering my eyes, as a small, simple smile tugged at my lips.

"Hm?" He questioned innocently, pulling and pushing the sword back and forth like a saw, he was trying to get to my heart, I wasn't sure if he was actually having trouble cutting through bones and muscle to get there, or he was enjoying watching me die slowly before his eyes and was trying to savor the moment.

Probably the latter.

"I may be bleeding to death,"

My fingers curled at my side, brushing along the surface of my kunai pouch.

"I may be useless for a fight right now,"

Red and blue electricity sparked on my fingertips, something he clearly noticed.

"My teammates may or may not have just gotten me killed,"

My eyesight blurred, for what would be the last time.

"But they are my comrades, and I'll protect them no matter what!"

And with that, the blue and stark red chakra sparking around my hand, looking so familiar to chakra, clasped onto the massive sword, my fingers curling around the surface, and with a simple slip of the wrist,

It snapped.

**Sakura, something bad is happening in here, what the hell is that chakra?!  
**

Who was Sakura? Why did that voice sound so panicked?

**Shit, it's the **_**chakra**_**, Sakura it's fucking with your head, let it go Sakura! **

What chakra?

The chakra doesn't matter, must protect Naruto and Sasuke.

Must protect.

Protect.

_I will protect._

**Sakura- Fuck, it's messing with the bindings of your mind! Something- Something else is here with us Sakura, and whatever it is, It- it's coming undone. **

"Don't care." Were the last words I was able to process from my lips as I watched my comrades fall unconscious as the broken water clone dispersed, although Zabuza had already created another, it was coming right at them.

It wouldn't get closer than a yard to my teammates.

_***At that moment, the soul of Sakura Haruno snapped.***_

**(Kakashi's Pov)**

Shit. Whatever is happening to Sakura, it's not good- I rolled about once more in the water prison, there were literally no ways out of this, and I was too weak from using sharringan to even attempt to try and put Zabuza under a genjustu, and besides, I was unsure it would word anyway.

Whatever he had done to Sasuke and Naruto, they had turned on Sakura, and now she was fighting off her teammates, trying hard (Clearly) not to harm them, and the super-charged clone of Zabuza. The work with her puppetry was impressive, but it was clear she was struggling to block attacks coming at her from every direction possible.

I started to panic when I noticed her lagging, and my fingertips were itching, I was helpless, I couldn't save her, she was put in a situation she clearly wasn't prepared for, I turned to Zabuza, who was standing over the orb of water, his created prison for me, he was smirking, watching intently as Naruto swiped up behind Sakura in a moment of weakness, and twisted her arms behind her back.

Time turned to slow motion as the clone of Zabuza raised his sword, his legendary sword, known to slice the greatest of ninja in half in one fatal strike, I wanted to turn away, to scream for her to move, but my throat felt swollen shut, I could only watch as blood flew through the air, staining Naruto's vibrant jumpsuit, Sakura's porcelain cheeks, her face was grim, but she didn't cry.

That's my girl, I thought, immensely proud of my student for standing strong even at the midst of death. My head spun, I failed again, this would be the second time my comrades would be cut down right before my eyes.

_I'm sorry Rin._

_I'm sorry Obito._

_I'm sorry Sakura._

_I'm sorry Naruto._

_I'm sorry Sasuke._

_I'm sorry I have failed you. _

My heart had never felt heavier than this, and my hand hovered over my pocket, the photograph that held a photo of the original team seven. My heart sank deeper into the depths as my eyes found Zabuza's, who was watching me expectantly.

"You had a real prize on your team, such a pity." He tsk'd. As if mocking my failure further, Minato-Sensei would be so disappointed at what I'd done to his son, his people. If he were still alive- that is.

Was I destined to lose everyone I cared about? Maybe if I would have trained her harder- No, My attention had to be focused on Sasuke and Naruto, Naruto, to keep the demon at bay. And Sasuke- the very last Uchiha. Or was I just trying to justify myself once again? I wasn't sure this time.

My mind was silent for once as my eyes drifted back to the wilting cherry-blossom before me, a sword buried so deeply in her shoulder I was surprised he hadn't sliced straight through her heart.

Dead center.

Her lips were moving, although I couldn't see her eyes, only the ghosting movements of her lips, I couldn't hear anything, she was speaking to low, but Zabuza could hear her, his face contorted in amusement and some kind of buried confusion as he watched his clone converse with the tiny pinkette.

My eyes widened painfully as I saw something- something I didn't in fact need the sharringan to see, her fingertips, it was like small sparks of blue and crimson electricity were dancing on her fingertips, although Zabuza seemed more concerned with getting his sword through the frail girl now, her delicate hand clamped over the sword, in one flick shattering it and dispersing the clone.

The genjustu must have fallen too, because Naruto and Sasuke crashed to the ground, unscathed, but unconscious.

My head cocked in confusion, although Zabuza's enraged snarl was enough to push me back to watching her, her eyes still hidden from view, although her mouth was a hard line, as thought she was fighting with herself, perhaps she was.

Her wound began sparking the duo-toned electricity that danced across her fingertips. The wound evenly began to close, and my head pounded in maximum confusion. The red chakra- the way it manifested- the levels of chakra she now showed looked _more_ than limitless.

As three clones of the demon of the mist charged at her, she didn't even raise her head, instead three clones of herself appeared, making an Arial arc at the first clone, quickly dispersing it, an elegant and well thought out jutsu to move, the second and third clones moved in sync, swords drawn as it to knock out all three clones at once, but the clones simply saw an opportunity and appeared standing on the practical bridge they had made with the blades, slicing with ease through the throats of the clones.

The real Sakura had disappeared, and my eyes scanned every direction, more than curios to see what else she would do. By not I'd realized there was something more to Sakura than anyone knew. Something I wasn't sure I'd wanted to know myself.

My heart hit my ribcage as I realized Zabuza was baffled as well, the thick mist spreading through the area like it belonged there, hanging to heavy I couldn't even see the light coming from the sky. Something lit up the darkness, the divine in a sea of humans.

The baby blue and crimson red sparked and lit up like lightning, something about it felt holy, ethereal, something untouchable and pure, the figure within it was small, fragile looking, only an outline of a being within the cloak of sparking chakra.

I could feel the density of Zabuza's nerves through the chakra. The tremors in its circulation, he was either agitated, or scared. I wasn't even sure what I myself was feeling at this moment.

The figure was coming closer, walking across the water in neat, graceful strides. The chakra dancing beautifully. The shadowy figure's long hair blew in beautiful tendrils in the wind, my heart bounced around in my chest. The closer the figure got the more it seemed to dance about in my chest. They were agonizingly slow, but the fluctuations grew more rapid, more frantic.

The chakra began to fuse, turning a bright, vibrant purple. Something began to form from the newly created chakra, although the crimson and blue still sparked within the mixed color. The beast rose, nearly fifty feet tall, sickening golden eyes made out of pure, dense, unimaginably strange chakra bowed it's head to snarl at Zabuza, who used his free hand to create an abundance of shadow clones, which destroyed the mist.

He was running low on chakra.

He would be forced to drop the prison soon or lose his life.

As the mist cleared the lump in my throat seemed to grow, within the chakra stood Sakura, her eyes a soft lavender, no pupils, oddly like the Hyuga's just plain iris, no pupil, just a milky, clouded jade, although a flicker of a grey ring would appear and disappear, a drop of blood dripped from her eyes like a false tear.

She watched the beast of her own creation tear through the shadow clones with a look of sadness on her face, as if the man she was fighting hadn't just drawn his sword through her body, as if he hadn't made her own teammates fight against her. She was looking at him like she was being forced to fight against someone precious to her.

Zabuza didn't seem to notice, the water clones continued coming, and the beast just tore through them quicker, as if beginning to understand the man's movements better with every clone it destroyed, golden eyes a translucent fire.

This was Sakura, the Sakura I didn't know. The Sakura I doubt she herself knew. This was someone with immense power, and the look in her eyes proved she had a heavy heart when yielding it, as if seeing a hundred years of pure devastation, and sickened with herself for causing more.

This was the pure heart of a young girl, cursed with dark strength. The ultimate taboo. The pure soul being forced to wield darkness, to destroy.

As she neared Zabuza, the panic became clear, and her eyes saddened considerably, those haunted lavender eyes with no pupil, just depths of lavender, depths of pain and sorrow and care. "The loss of a life is something to be mourned, if by chance I must take your life, Zabuza Mamochi, I will mourn for you." She whispered, her voice coming out with clarity, wisdom, pain of a mother catching her child killing a rabbit.

The man released the water prison, and I was falling beneath the depths, until something tenderly wrapped around my body, it was a claw made of chakra, it didn't burn however, it danced, hummed a gentle kind of sadness, resting me on the shore, where I began losing consciousness.

**(Narrative Pov)**

The Mamochi felt like he was a child caught with his hand in the cookie jar. And her eyes- that girl's eyes held so much kindness, so much sorrow. Something in him _made _him release the prison, made him back away from the girl, not in fear but- Shame.

She stepped forward, leaning upwards to cup his cheek, he nearly flinched away, something akin to pain in his chest that made his eyes almost want to prickle tears at the sadness in her eyes. He looked down to her, she looked so sad, like she was in so much pain. Had he caused that pain? Should he apologize?

Her thumb rubbed gentle circles in on his cheeks, she hummed a soft tune, an old mist lullaby that his own mother would sing to him, age old as time itself, how could she know it? But did it really matter? "Zabuza, my child. I'm giving you the opportunity to run, run, and find your tool. Protect one another, and protect me." She whispered, her words hooking in to him like honey.

And before he could even think, he was nodding, his face twisted into apologetic and sadness. "I will… I will protect you? Why?" He questioned, feeling drunk on kindness no one had ever shown his, especially not in battle. He-he was a monster, wasn't he?

She nodded. "Yes, my child. And I will protect you." She whispered, placing a soft kiss on the older man's cheek, her eyes showing the grey ring like patterns in the milky lavender. He'd seen that before- hadn't he? He couldn't remember, he didn't care.

He leaned into the comfort of her caress and nodded. "You must leave now, Zabuza Mamochi, and if you attack my team once more. _I will kill you_." Her final words felt like a slap to the face, he moved, he didn't think, he bowed to the woman, taking a knee before her, as he placed a hand on his shoulder.

He felt as though he had been knighted by a goddess.

As he disappeared, he felt nothing but pride in his actions, for once. No matter how confusing they seemed to be.

The Kunoichi's eyes slowly drifted closed, and the chakra carried her to the shore, before gently caressing Naruto and Sasuke's cheek, both completely unharmed awoke, terror in their eyes as they found Tazuna no where in sight, and Kakashi and Sakura lying face down on the shore.

"What the hell happened?" Naruto questioned, bringing an aching hand to his forehead, he felt something warm and slick on his skin, and swiftly drew back his hand, red coated his fingertips, and his eyes slowly wandered down his clothing, untorn, not even muddied, but covered in blood. Oh Kami, what happened? Had he killed Zabuza? Had Zabuza taken Tazuna?

Sasuke held the same concern, blood splattered across his cheeks, and small droplets on his clothing, but not recalling even participating in the fight, one moment Sakura pulled out her puppet the next, his world turned back. Wait, where's Sakura? He looked around frantically, seeing a mess of silvery pink on the shore, not even concerned with anything but her at the moment.

He bounded toward her, noticing he had a bruise on his abdomen due to the dull aches that were occurring there, he came to a halt and dropped down beside the pinkette, his eyes flickering to his sensei for a second before he deemed him unimportant whatsoever, the old man could die right here for all he cared, but not Sakura, she wasn't allowed to die.

As he bushed her hair to the side, he noticed the right shoulder of her black shirt was torn to shreds, the same shoulder wounded earlier, the wound was deep, but oddly enough not bleeding, perhaps she had healed it a bit while fighting.

He hardly noticed the blonde beside him in a moment, but something in his eyes looked troubled, he looked like he was just barley holding in tears, specks of crimson showed in his oceanic eyes, but he paid no mind, his eyes scanned over the girl, she was covered in small bruises, and a kunai was embedded into her shoulder, he hesitated over it a moment, recognizing it instantly.

It- It was his kunai.

"Sasuke- We is covered in Sakura's blood." Naruto breathed, tears dripping from his eyes. My heart seemed to stop just then, and I felt myself begin to hyperventilate, so I turned to the one thing I could find that didn't cause me to burst into tears as well- rage.

I tackled the blonde, feeling something in my eyes but not figuring out what it was, my mind wasn't working, "How do you know it's hers?" I snarled, did he know what he did to Sakura? Did Naruto not even stop it? He'll kill him; he will kill the blonde moron who allowed him to harm his own teammate!

"S-Sasuke, You're eyes!" The blonde gaped, but his words fell on deaf ears as Sasuke pulled him forward by his collar and slammed him back against the ground, pain shook through the blonde's skull. "_How do you know_?" Sasuke repeated through clenched teeth, anger blinding the blonde's remark toward his eyes.

"I- I can smell it. I don't know how, but I just do." Naruto whispered, pain and sorrow causing tears to fill the blonde's eyes as he tried to figure out just what he had done after he blacked out. What had be done to his teammate, his friend, the only person besides Iruka-Sensei who accepted him, would she ever forgive him? He could smell her blood all over him; it burned his nose and eyes, her life blood. He had bled her nearly to death, if she wasn't dead already.

Tazuna then appeared from the trees, rubbing the back of his head as he looked to the two boys, and the man and girl lying face down on the beach in confusion, what had be missed while he was out? Last thing he remembered was wandering into the woods for safety, and then someone in a porcelain mask came by and knocked him out.

"Everybody okay?" He questioned, seeing the black haired boy's expression didn't calm his nerves, it was a mixture of despair and pure rage shining in blood red eyes. When the hell did the kid get those? He didn't think they were red? Oh well, they had to get going.

The flash of moving silver caught everyone's eyes as a groan etched through the air, "Naruto, Sasuke, would you knock it off already? Sakura is fine. She just needs rest, no thanks to you two for getting knocked out before the fight even started." The man croaked, rubbing his aching head as he pulled his headband down over his sharringan eye, he definitely shouldn't even be _moving _yet. Oh well, time to 'walk it off' as they say.

"What happened?" Naruto demanded, Kakashi couldn't ignore the tears in the young blonde's eyes and sighed, stuffing his hands into his pockets, the things that happened after Sakura lost control weren't any of their business, nor did Kakashi have any plans to tell anyone but the Third Hokage himself, and maybe Rin and Obito. If she chose to tell them that they went AWOL and attacked her, that's her choice.

"It's Sakura's story to tell, but she's in critical condition right now. Sasuke," I turned to see he already had the girl in his arms and was walking behind Tazuna in the direction of the village, what had happened to Zabuza?

He turned and saw the broken look in the blonde's eyes, and reached out to ruffle his hair, although the movement made his limbs feels like they might fall off at any moment now.

"Kakashi-Sensei?" Naruto questioned, turning to look at Kakashi with broken eyes, Kakashi could only look at him, awaiting a question to the blonde, although he simply looked down at his own bloody jumpsuit, the vibrant orange looking more painful than cheerful.

"Will she ever forgive me?" Naruto questioned. His eyes searching his elder Sensei's face for any kind of assurance he could find, Kakashi gave him a weak smile and started walking, leaving Naruto standing on the shore.

Although Kakashi's words seemed to hold him in place for some time, "I don't have a doubt in my mind."

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o 0o0o000o0o0o**

**Long chapter just for those of you who had to wait so long for an update, I adore this story now for some reason. Zabuza is one of the key roles in this story, He and Haku will show up in multiple chapters.**

**Don't forget to review.**

**-Sakura-Centric.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Part One.**

_**Chapter Eight; Beginning Act**_

**(Sakura's Pov)**

_Why was it so cold here? I tried to take a step forward, but my arms twitched instead, what the hell happened to my body? My legs buckled beneath me and when I tried to catch myself, my left foot twisted to the right instead. My nerves- something was wrong with the flow of signals from my brain to my body._

_I hissed at the feeling the icy floors gave to my bare arms, I wasn't sure if severe frostbite would help my situation, now would it? _

_I tried to roll onto my side, although this time, I attempted to use my legs, and was rewarded when my arm pushed from the floor and I plopped onto my back. I was lying on a slab of marble in a clearing. _

_Rubble surrounded the area, all the smooth white stone, some were burned and scratched, as if a great battle had happened here, I was beneath a starry sky, the stars were so bright, so close, so… __**red.**_

"_Nani? What the hell are you doing here?"_

_I flinched at the panicked voice, my eyes rolling back to try and see whomever was approaching me, considering my body was practically useless right now, I hoped whomever was coming at me wasn't looking for a fight. Besides, even if I did have the ability to properly use my limbs, I was so tired, and my shoulder felt like a pike had been driven through it._

_Oh yeah, I pike hadn't been in her shoulder, a giant sword had sliced through it._

_Soon the footsteps stopped, and I raised an eyebrow at the sight (At least I tried to, the corner of my left lip pulled upwards instead, giving the impression that I was smirking.) It was me- well, in a way. Her hair was pastel pink, and hung to her shoulders, her bangs went across her forehead, and curled to the left, her eyes were a poisonous emerald, instead of my clouded jade. She wore no headband, no ninja gear; instead she adorned a formal dress. It was single-strapped, and clung to the curves of her upper body, but flowed around to pool at her feet. _

_An annoyed sigh escaped her lips and she crossed her arms, staring down at me as if to say 'what am I going to do with you?' before leaning forward to throw me over her shoulder, the action itself causing me to hiss from the pain in __**my**__ shoulder. I was forced to stare downward, considering I couldn't figure what part of my body I had to move to use my neck, so I settled for staring at the ground, I noticed the other me wasn't wearing shoes. _

_Huh? Wait a second- was this? "Inner?" I questioned, although my voice was hoarse, it was then that I realized how painfully dehydrated I was. _

_A snort escaped the lips of the other me, "I never understood why you called me that, but yeah, it's me." She smirked, dropping me into a marble throne of some sort, and when my head lolled to the left she adjusted it properly. _Great, I was practically a breathing doll.

"_I didn't think it actually happened," she laughed, her hands firmly on her hips as she stared at me before uttering a low whistle, "You seriously broke apart the bindings of your mind, I was wandering why it was night here all of a sudden." She gestured to the sky of bright stars, although they burned crimson instead of basic white light that the night sky did. _

"_What happened?" I croaked, my head dipping to the side once more. I hated the feeling, so while Inner was contemplating on what to say, I testing out moving bits and pieces of my body to see if I could get a sequence going here. "Mind explaining why my nerves are all fucked up?" I grunted while trying to bend my arm and getting my neck to straighten. _

_Bending arm equals neck movement. _

_Leg movement equals arm movement. _

_Neck movement equals leg movement. _

_Foot movement is hand movement and vice versa. _

_I was able to straighten myself up into at least a comfortable position, relishing in the awkwardness of the situation really, I was probably dreaming. But even if I was, I was in some beautiful clearing, without proper use of my body, conversing with the ruder, more lecherous part of my mind which happened to be a mirror replica of me except with a few minor changes. _

"_Huh? Oh, well you see- You aren't supposed to be here." Inner began, taking a seat on the ground before me and crossing her legs. I stared at her in annoyance and sighed, understanding that she clearly didn't get the point yet, "Yes, I know _that_ much, but could you perhaps humor me and be more specific?" I questioned, turning my head to see that the wound in my shoulder was leaking blood, which stained the white marble stone beneath me, shame. _

"_Bitch," She snorted, but continued none the less, "Well you see, you came so close to dying, the big guy panicked, and released something you are so _not _ready for, the reason being your body and mind aren't working in tune, so the chakra you yielded, literally broke apart the bindings of your mind. So you're just a jumbled mess right now, I can try to put you back together." She said, her index finger tapping her chin in thought. I sighed, rolling my eyes. _

"_That would be just _great._" I snapped sarcastically, annoyed at the deft woman that had shared a space within my mind with me for more than most of my entire life. _

_She scowled before sighing. "You know, you don't have to be so cruel to me." _

_I snorted and tried to stand, accomplishing, but wobbling slightly. "What do we need to do?" I questioned, inspecting the wound on my shoulder, but doubting I had the strength or skill to even think about healing it._

"_Well, let's see. Your memories are in place and everything, you seem to be getting the hang on your motor skills, and you're able to think. So we got left with the hard part, we need to re-connect your soul to your body, considering we're in your body, it shouldn't be too far away, problem is, we're in __**my**__ soul at the moment, I can't enter yours, rules and whatnot." She sighed, dismissing the words with a wave of her hand. To which I gaped at. _

"_But- You're just a figment of my imagination!" I protested, watching the puzzled look cross her face (Which was technically my face) before she spoke, "What on earth gave you that idea?" _

"_What are you, then?" I questioned, more than stunned, I'd always thought she was just a part of my mind that had a wild streak, my own conflicting thoughts or something, but apparently- Kami I'm going insane, this must be a fever dream or something. Gah, I can't handle this!_

"_Well- Technically I'm a summoning beast- but then again, you yourself could be considered a Junjuriki of sorts, considering I did sort of, kind of attach myself to your soul when you were young, but I'm not the only one here- So think of yourself as a semi-most-likely-permanent apartment building for demon souls." She smirked. _

_My jaw dropped. "What the hell did you just say?"_

"_Well it was just so warm, and pure. Insanely pure, like, fuck, it looked like heaven to me considering the place I'd been jammed up in for the last hundred years or so. Besides! I told you, I literally can't touch your soul, too pure. I didn't exactly think it all the way through when I entered your body, and before I knew it I had attached myself to your mind, and here we are." She sighed, gesturing around her for emphasis. How could she say this so casually!_

"_So technically you're a parasite. Anything else I should know?" I sighed, sitting back down, fuck this; I was way too tired to deal with some kind of demon-spirit-figment thing. _

"_If you want to be a total bitch about it, yes, I am a parasite of sorts. And like I said; I'm not the only one making home here, and trust me, you don't even want to meet the big guy. He's a _total _asshole."_

_I thought I was going to be sick, "How many fucking demons are in my body!" I cried out, trying to rest my aching head in my hands but failing and ending up kneeing myself in the forehead, not helping my case but getting a chuckle out of Inner. _

"_Just me and the big guy, promise." She nodded. Tapping her chin again, great, that meant she was going to continue talking, "Come to think of it, I've got a better way to explain this; I am a __**spirit **__in your body, I can't give you my own chakra, considering it's what makes up my form, and I am unable to dwell anywhere besides your mind. Yet the other demon would actually _officially_ make you a junjuriki considering you are its host and can use its chakra. But the weird thing is, when I found this out, I wandered why there wasn't a seal, so I dug around a bit, and realized it's because __**you**__ were the seal." _

"_What do you mean?" I questioned, my mind racing so quickly it hurt. I thought I was going to throw up, but to be honest, I wasn't sure if that was even possible in this world. And if it was I couldn't control my body well enough to lean forward to avoid vomiting on myself (Yuck)._

_She sighed and fell backwards, staring up at the sky as her thin sculpted brows knitted together. "Well, the chakra that did this to you is what makes you the seal. The chakra itself was fused within your genetics, your mind, it's practically what holds your soul and mind together. You were _meant _to cage a demon, _literally._ You, yourself, are a walking seal. Right down to your DNA. The thing is, since you released the chakra, the big guy hasn't said a word." She nodded, her eyes following a hummingbird that drifted by. _

_I groaned, "Great. So my own body has been lying to me since I can remember, I'm a walking demon container, and I destroyed my own mind trying to save my body." I mewled, this was fucking perfect. Why? Why couldn't I just have been a goddamn civilian girl? Why couldn't I have been born into a trading village that didn't even have ninja?_

_Oh yeah, because I was 'destined' to be some kind of walking demon cage. As Inner so elegantly put it. My eyes flickered to her warily, as she watched the sky without a care in the world, my eyes roamed over the scenery around us. "So where exactly is this place?" I questioned. _

"_Just a place I knew long ago." She whispered, propping herself up to stare at me, "Now, should we go see the big guy to try and see if he wants to lend a hand and help us fish out the missing pieces of your soul? Because at the moment, you're practically brain dead." She sighed, pushing herself up with her palm and staring at me expectantly._

_I rolled my eyes and stood, with some effort and thinking first. "Where are we going?" I questioned, looking off into the vast density of trees. Would we have to trudge through them? Or since this is her mind would she be able to just transport._

"_He has to come here. I'm a lower demon, I can't travel much around parts of __**your**__ mind, let alone even dream of venturing within the cadge of the beast, It's not my territory."_

_I groaned in annoyance and raked a hand down my face. "So what are we supposed to do?"_

"_Well," She began, "I'm going to take you to the border where our three souls meet. His will be easy to spot, I promise you. And you can walk right in; I however, can't go any further than that." She nodded, beginning to walk off into the trees of the clearing. _

"_How long should this take?" I questioned, failing to keep up with her, so I had to should for her to hear me with the twelve foot gap between us, I still moved awkwardly, a little sluggishly, and my right foot was dragging a bit, but at least I could move. _

"_About three days." She called back to me. _

"_Damn you." I muttered under my breath. _

_Why the hell was this happening to me?_

**Three days later, at the threshold of the souls. **

_My feet were fucking killing me. But on the bright side, time actually passed really, really fast here, so her version of three days was actually just a couple of hours on my time. I was even getting a hang of using my body in this odd way, although hopefully I didn't have to do this long. _

_She sat and explained everything to me for three days- everything she knew, which wasn't much more than I knew myself, considering she couldn't reach far into the corners of my mind, or come close to my soul. She was a lower level demon, she merely took on my form because it was what she chose to do, she wasn't even sure if by human standards she was a female. So should I call her an 'it'?_

_I'd been practically hyperventilating for the first few hours, but I slowly calmed myself, there clearly wasn't anything to do, and as confusing as the whole situation was it made me feel a bit better that Inner didn't understand it either._

_I noticed the woods ended, and a blue and crimson barrier sparked, just like the chakra from earlier, the chakra that had ended me up in this strange place. Inner turned to me, her face grim. "If I go any further I'll be destroyed." She said, holding up a hand to show that the chakra that actually seemed to make up her body was blinking ferociously, as if she were a light and it was switching from 'on' to 'off' over and over._

_I gave her a small nod and began climbing the massive staircase, well, it was more like crawling considering I was still getting used to moving my arms to chide my legs into moving and so on, but it was simple enough to get the hang of, if you were willing to practice, that is._

_The staircase was formed from black marble, the surface of the stone itself was complete opposite to Inner's own world, Inner's world was a comfortable temperature, cold at the least, but no, wherever I was nearing was blistering my skin with it's heat. Rage and Adrenaline hung heavy in the air. _

_But something within those dark, powerful energies was something greater, something elegant, something… holy. I couldn't quite place it. As I reached the top of the staircase, Sweat was covering every inch of my skin in a shimmering coat; my silvery-pink locks clung to me and curled with moisture. _

_It felt like stepping into hell. _

_This wasn't beautiful, it was a black void, it was stepping into nothingness, but there had to be something there, something to give off the feelings of pain and destruction, something to create this heat- _

_There was always something. _

_Just as I stepped into the darkness, a vision began to appear, it was a stone path, leading into the darkness, more than clearly meant for me. But the true question was, should I follow it? Did I even have a choice? I couldn't stay brain dead for much longer; it would have lasting effects on my physical body._

_A loud howl echoed through the darkness and I felt whatever courage I had before diminish, my heart dropped to my stomach and I fell flat to the ground, no longer having the concentration to use my limbs. Whatever was here was literally making the air heavy with its mere presence._

_A cackling, animalistic laugh filled the air. But it was distorted, as if multiple voices were trying to generate the laughter at once, a chill racked up my spine and I had to swallow the lump in my throat. _

"_I knew you would come eventually little one, do not fear, as I am, I cannot harm you." The distorted voice rasped from the darkness, and I slowly nodded, having to concentrate to remember how to use my legs in this world, slowly rising to continue down the stone path. It was getting hotter and hotter the closer I got, to where it felt like it was actually searing off my flesh, by the tine the stone path stopped growing in front of me, I thought I would be screaming and peeling off my own flesh. _

_A cackling laugh vibrated the floors so roughly I lost my balance and fell to my knee in a sort of bowing position as I tried to regain balance. I felt a scream lodge itself in my throat as a glowing crimson eye shone through the darkness, the pupil was a series of rings surrounded with complicated symbols, this wasn't the sharringan, nor the byakugan, I'd never seen this doujutsu before. _

"_Hello, little one. I am Jubi." The voice spoke, however the beast didn't seem to have a mouth, not that I could see anyway, all I could see was the massive, gleaming, blood red eye that was looking at me so intensely I was sure it would be able to crush me under it's gauze, and then it's words registered in my brain, and I swallowed back the scream. _

"_T-that's impossible, the Jubi was split into the tailed beasts- the remainder created the moon." I whispered, nearly vomiting at the spinning of my head due to the beasts intense glair, easily said, I was fucking terrified. This… _Thing_ was inside my body, it was touching my soul, I had used its chakra. _

"_Myths, I am the remainder of the Jubi, the tailed beasts are merely smaller portions of my chakra that had been stolen from me to weaken me. Although-" And with that the beast lent closer, although I couldn't see it's form, just that fucking gleaming eyeball with scared me more than the body possible could, "I have restored my powers to full capacity. The tailed beasts are just manifestations of chakra from me, weaker forms." It spat, as if disgusted with them._

_I change my mind, I would definitely rather be under a sky full of crimson stars with my airhead inner, anything would be better than this, hell, I'd even let Zabuza tear into me once more with his sword and not complain once, I found myself crawling backwards, but when I bumped into something furry, and monstrously large, I gasped, but by then it was constricting around me, and I was screaming and thrashing blindly, completely forgetting how to use my arms and legs once more._

"_Be silent, child. I told you, I cannot harm you." The beast sighed, and I stopped thrashing, but my breaths came out in strangled swallows of air as I tried to calm myself. "Need- to… Need to get back in my body." I panted, unable to use proper wording any longer as my head lolled forward; I forgot which part of my body I had to use to control my neck. _

"_Okay child, but you must, of coarse, strike a deal with me." The voice cackled, and the hairs on my neck instant stood straighter, my eyes widening in pure fear, it had what I needed to put myself back together, and it knows I'm too terrified to even try to think about taking it from it, it's already won._

"_W-What kind of deal?" I questioned, watching the blue and crimson chakra spark in the air like lighting, and suddenly the outline of nine, ferocious tails, not including the one wrapped around my body, revealed this beast was nearly the size of Konohagakure itself. I had to swallow another scream, but couldn't push back the shudder that racked through me. _

"_I want to live, which sadly means, you must live as well. You came too close to dying yesterday, and I was forced to intervene, which was far too difficult for even I. You must allow me to join into your soul." It spoke- or for better words- snarled. I felt my heart hit my chest; I was prepared to do anything just to get away from this beast, but my soul? It was going to- was it going to hurt?_

_I opened my mouth to say something, but found myself falling silent, what needed to be said? The beast had me cornered, but I couldn't allow him to hurt Sasuke or Naruto, if I agreed to this deal, he would only be closer to the human world- he could get out, the legendary Jubi would get loose and it would be my entire fault._

"_Child, My life is your life. I cannot leave this body, the damn sage destroyed mine, I need a vessel, and yours is the only one which can contain my power without disintegrating on contact." It spoke, a feral grin on its voice, even if not visible.  
_

_I felt my mouth go dry, too terrified to make a complete sentence, "Deal."_

"_A fine choice, little one." _

_A small flame of burning jade green began coming closer, before twisting into an orb, My eyes widened as it began to crack, beams of hot, bright white light shot out from between the cracks. _

_The beams of light became a supernova and I lost all sight, lost inside the white light before, for the second time, I completely lost myself._

**(Sasuke's Pov)**

"Sasuke-San?"

I turned at the feminine voice, seeing the bridge builder's elderly daughter standing in the doorway, a tray with two bowls of rice and tea on its surface as a small smile touched the woman's lips, I nodded to her once as she placed the tray on the ground beside me, before shooting me a concerned glance.

I didn't need her concern. I huffed as my eyes flickered to Sakura once more, She had been out cold for two days, she was breathing, and Kakashi had patched up her shoulder as well as he could, it was deep, although none of us were sure just exactly how deep, we had no medical experience, like Sakura did.

I looked around the room, before standing from my seat on the floor and stalking over to the door to peer down the hallway, noting that no one was there. I slowly drifted toward Sakura's bed, hearing her soft, even breaths calmed me. She was sweating intensely, although Kakashi said it was normal with a wound like hers, the body was trying to heal itself.

I lent forward, pulling the rag from her forehead and slowly making my way to the restroom attached to the room we were staying in, running the rag under cold water and ringing it out, before returning to Sakura and placing it back where it once had been. I noticed the sheets were covered in her dried blood and sweat, and with a sigh, I began to un-tucked them from around her, grimacing at how the spots with dried blood almost literally stuck to her skin.

The bridge builder's daughter had bathed her, considering she was the only woman in the house and it was courtesy, and given her a loose Black T-shirt to wear, which apparently had once belonged to her now deceased husband, killed by the crime lord in this area, as Tazuna had spoken of earlier.

As I dropped the sheets into a laundry bin I pulled my own from my make-shift bed at the side of the futon I had placed Sakura on, tucking them around her like they had been once before. Noticing that her skin wasn't sweating so intensely now. I let out a small sigh of relief and began to tuck the blankets around her feet, as I'd noticed she had done on her own in her sleep, apparently she didn't like her feet uncovered, a feeling I shared.

I drew back as she groaned, and was at her side in an instant, watching her eye's flutter as they slowly opened, I could have sworn I saw a flash of lavender before her eyes were fully open and revealing a clouded, glossy jade, sickness evident in her eyes.

"S-Sasuke?" She croaked, her mouth seeming to have trouble forming the words, I nodded at her, staring at her intently.

Her head lolled to the side, she was practically hallucinating from the fever. A small smile touched her lips and her hand twitched beneath the sheet, "I told you I'd never let you hate me, do you remember?" She questioned, I sighed and tucked the sheets tighter around her.

"Sakura, you should rest." I noted, beginning to walk away when a weak, delicate hand clasped over my wrist, and I turned to raise an eyebrow at the pinkette who was looking at me intently, I swiftly pulled my wrist away, shoving my hands down into my pockets once more, but she didn't back down.

"Do you remember?" She questioned once more, her eyes holding some sort of sadness that made my chest ache to see. I turned away from her, unable to look at her eyes anymore, the last time she had that look on her face- was in the hospital…. After the massacre. That look brought on too many memories.

I made my way to the door, but something in me made me pause as I gripped the handle, I couldn't turn around to face her, not anymore, not like I used to be able to.

"I remember." I spoke softly, before disappearing through the door.

Sakura was an ultimate key to my past, a memory I couldn't forget, and while I had to face her everyday, it just brought on more memories of things I couldn't have- things Itachi had taken from me. Everything I saw in her made me hate him more, reminded me of him.

Sakura and I would never be the same, not as when we were children, not as I am with Naruto, we couldn't be friends, and we could hardly be comrades.

I heard the front door to the small home open, and brushed past the panting, sweaty Naruto, and annoyed looking Kakashi, returning from a days training, both shooting me curious glances as I went for the front door, the dobe seemed to understand why I was leaving.

"She's awake." Was the words that came from his mouth before he disappeared down the hallway, I watched him to, Kakashi fallowed behind him, their retreating backs reminding me painfully that I could never be that way with Sakura, so carefree and affectionate. She was the embodiment of my foul childhood, because all of my good memories had been with her, because she made me happy, because she stood through the insults thrown at her from my family that held a severe hatred of her for some reason.

She was everything I could no longer have.

And when I looked at her, all I could see is the happiness Itachi ruined.

As I turned to go train by myself, I thought back to Naruto.

He would be the comrade and friend I couldn't, that Sakura wanted, that she deserved.

Yes, I would save her, and fight alongside her, but nothing more.

Not until I kill Itachi, will I be able to accept her as I once had.

**0o0o0o0o00oo0ooo0o0o0o0o0o0o 0o0ooo0oo000o0oo0o00o**

**Okay, short chapter. I'm shit tired, please review, this was a pain in the ass.**

**-Sakura-Centric.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Part One.**

_**Chapter Nine; Questions**_

**(Sakura's Pov)**

It was dark when I woke up, I could hear Sasuke and Naruto's sleeping breaths, but my mind was drawn to the dull ache on my shoulder, where Zabuza's sword had sliced through me. It was healed now, but… _Something else_ had taken its place.

It was like some kind of freakish tattoo or branding, the only thing that made me realize everything that happened before I woke up wasn't a dream, although I would give anything to forget it, it was all real.

My soul broke apart, and I was thrust into Inner's soul, who later took me to the legendary Jubi, who was supposed to be nonexistent, split into the tailed beast, the remainder being the moon, but no, I failed to realize that just like my own chakra, if there is even a bit yet, and a soul attached, the chakra will _always_ replace what's lost.

Apparently living in my body for thirteen years was just enough time to do that. It takes me about four or five hours of rest to replenish my chakra, so how much damage would you have to take for it to require thirteen years to replenish? I couldn't suppress the shiver at the thought.

My fingers traced along the swirling pattern that now covered my shoulder, shoulder blade and a small portion of my bicep. I had gotten up to look at the design earlier; I'd be lying to myself if I said it didn't terrify me. It was a beast of some sort, down on four paws, it was a stark black silhouette, ten tails stretched upwards and curled, tumbling slightly over my shoulder, touching the beginning of my bicep.

It was like the beast was marking territory, and this was second best to hiking a leg and pissing on me. I wrapped it the best I could with binding wrap to hide it; I didn't want _anyone _to see this. I would be lynched.

The grey bindings peeked slightly out of my short sleeves, if asked I would simply say I'd covered the wound. No one would press, I knew that much. Kakashi-Sensei has probably been training Naruto and Sasuke while I was out.

I touched the marking again, closing my eyes as it flooded with healing chakra, numbing the nerves to quit the burning, tingling sensation that kept reminding me it was there.

"Shit!" I gasped, biting down on my knuckle to stifle a yelp as a spark of crimson lit up the room, burning my hand.

**Don't touch the seal, little one.**

Okay, that time, I _did_ scream.

Which turned out to be a worse idea than I imagined, considering in an instant Sasuke was looming over me at the side of the futon, his eyes scanning over me in concern (I think, could have imagined it, probably) and Naruto was sleepily groaning something close to 'What's going on'.

"You're awake." It wasn't a question.

"Yeah, sorry- I had a nightmare." I whispered hoarsely, trying to hold back the tremors of fear as a throaty, animalistic laugh danced through my head. Sasuke was looking down at me with something akin to annoyance.

"Hn."

He remained standing over my bed, and I couldn't help but blush under his powerful charcoal gauze. What was he still doing here? What did he want? I nearly yelped as a cool fair-skinned hang pressed itself to my forehead, staring up at Sasuke's unreadable expression, forgetting the fact that a snarling could be heard ringing in my ears.

Sasuke was paying attention to me for the first time since we arrived here, was I dying? Was there some kind of terminal illness growing in me and Sasuke was being kind as a way to tell me goodbye? Oh Kami, I'm going to die.

**(Sasuke's Pov)**

Why the hell was she looking at her hands like they were about to fall off? Did she think something was wrong with her? Well, besides the wound on her shoulder she should be just fine, it looks like she even re-wrapped it.

"Stop doing that, Sakura. You're fine." I sighed, why did she have to look at me with _those eyes_, those scared, innocent eyes. Didn't she realize what they did to me? No, of coarse she didn't, she was always an odd one.

"Sakura." I said once again, noticing her hands were shaking once more, my hand instinctively shot out and curled around her much smaller wrist, it felt almost frail enough to snap in one bend, her fingers long and slender, delicate enough to work with the weapon of her choice, it was good for her, kept her at a distance from her attacker, she was too soft… too fragile. She should have never become a ninja.

Her eyes flickered upwards, they were large, pupils dilated as if she had just seen death. And then she cocked her head to the side, eerily stirring some kind of emotion in my chest, which was becoming increasingly annoying, every time I so much as looked at the oblong pinkette it came back.

Was it panic? Paranoia? Anxiety? I couldn't be sure, but something about the girl simply irked me to no end. As if speaking to her were forbidden, but nothing I did seemed to keep the girl away, nothing could make me hate her even if my body was so desperately trying to make me do so.

I took a step back and sighed, shoving my hands into my pockets and glancing out of the window, streams of moonlight flooded in, making Sakura's hair appear silver and her skin a sickly white, as if she were some kind of nymph or celestial being. I shook the thoughts away, I shouldn't think of her like that. She was hardly even my teammate, more like an expendable distraction, yes.

"What happened yesterday?" I questioned nonchalantly, doing my best to keep my eyes off her and onto the moonless sky, which was peppered with bright stars.

"You and Naruto were put under a genjustu. Zabuza's clone knocked me out after practically beating me to death, Kakashi-Sensei saved all of us." She spoke, almost hesitantly, I could tell the instant she began talking that she was lying, her story didn't add up to Kakashi's behavior or the fact that we found her by the shore covered in wounds from our own weapons, or the fact that Naruto and I were showered in her blood.

I spun on a heel, in an instant looming over her, her fragile wrists bound inside my much larger hands. I stared down at her, something inside of me burning with some kind of unknown emotion; her eyes were wide, glistening jade orbs.

"S-Sasuke, what are you-" Her soft voice spoke, slightly shaky, her eyes shifting from my face to the nonexistent space between us, I tried to ignore the feeling of her body beneath mine. It was all hormones, and I didn't have such time for that.

"Do not lie to me." I snarled, watching her eyes widen slightly and then slowly start drifting about the room as if in a panic. "Sasuke, please get off, you're scaring me." She whispered, although I could tell by the tone of her voice that she was lying, something else was happening, she was hiding it from me. Just like when we were little, she was a born liar.

She closed her eyes with a sigh, opening them once more, not looking at me, her wrist jerked out of my grip, the sheets pooled around her as she stood, brushing the dust from her clothing with a glance back at me, "Don't worry about me Sasuke, I can handle myself."

Her tone was harsh, cold, a way I'd never heard it before.

What happened yesterday? What happened in the mist?

**(Sakura's Pov)**

_I'm going insane… yeah, that's it… _I chided to myself, sucking in a calming breath. For some reason the idea of insanity was easier to accept than the fact that she was a walking fucking hotel. It was cold outside, and the rain beat at me viciously.

How the hell could I go back? They'd never be able to accept me… I- What if that thing got out again? I couldn't even remember what happened for hells sake! I- I cannot stay at Konoha… I just can't. It's an impossible feat to keep whatever happened a secret!

I lightly touched the bandages that hid the strange marking, wincing as it scorched me, I don't understand! Why did things like this always happen to me? Why couldn't it just be simple? Kakashi-Sensei wouldn't just pretend that he didn't see what happened back there… he… he would tell the Hokage, they would resent me…

I closed my eyes, my senses not worth shit right now, Sasuke and Naruto were back at the bridge builders home, Kakashi asleep…

What am I going to do?

**You must leave. They will not cease to kill you if they learn I am within you, think of how much they resented the fox demon that was merely a stem of my power! **

I winced at that damn voice… that voice that wouldn't leave my mind. I didn't respond, in fear of hearing it once more, it made my blood run cold.

I touched the marking on my arm once more, knowing that the demon was right.  
I had to leave Konoha.  
But it would have to wait until we got back to the village…

Maybe by then I would have another option….

**(Narrative)**

Lightning clapped in the sky over the large tower.

Blood stained the walls of the entire building.

The bodies of over two hundred men lain out in plain view as two figures stood in the distance, watching a fire eat the building from the inside.

"What now?" A softer male voice questioned the much larger figure beside him.

"We will be needed one day, Haku. For now, we wander."

**0o0o0o0o0ooo0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o 0o0o00o0o0o0o**

**Short Update. Sorry.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Part One**

_**Chapter Ten; Goodbye**_

**(Sakura's Pov)**

_Run. _

_Run. _

_My senses were alive; every nerve inside my body was a scorching fire. I was running, my sight was bathed in white, my body tired and eyes begging to close, where was I? It looked like a hospital, but the smells of bleach and latex burned in my senses, making my eyes water._

I could hear footsteps behind me- they were doctors and shinobi, chasing after me. They had injected me with something to put me to sleep as they operated, trying to get it out of me, the Jubi, the ten tails, mythical beast that had regained it's power and manifested itself within my body. They wanted it out, they wanted to kill me to dispose of it, after all- what's one life if they could prevent the end of the world as they know it?

My feet were becoming tired, the fact that I'd been able to evade them at all in the state I was in was amazing, I was slipping and sliding all through the halls- it was clear that they would catch up to me eventually, especially considering I was practically crawling, and they sounded like they were getting closer and closer.

I could feel their breath, hear the frantic shouting to catch me before I released the beast- before I ended the lives of millions of people, my body burned and began to convulse, I felt my senses burn deeper, my vision becoming blurred with black spots as red and blue sparked all around me, washing over my face so it was almost like looking out of a veil made of blue and crimson electricity. 

_Screams. Kami, what was I doing? I-I just wanted to get away! If they would have just left me be they would have been sparred! But they chased me! And I was so scared it just got free! And now- now I was hurting them!_

They would believe I was the one hurting them! The beast was wearing my skin, using my voice to inflict snide comments on those it was ripping apart, chided on by their blood burning screams, the high pitched sounds that hurt to hear, that attack your primal rooted sense of danger, like nails on a chalkboard. 

"_Sakura-Chan! Please stop!" _

_My body stopped moving, and the veil seemed to lighten- I could see a silhouette, spiky hair, short figure, it was coming closer, it's arms outstretched as if to embrace- so familiar, the voice was so fucking familiar! Why can't I remember!  
_

"_Sakura-Chan- please leave, you aren't safe here,"_

I sprang upwards in my bed, sweat glistened over every inch of my skin, my hands were fisted into the sheets violently, chest desperately rising and falling, adrenaline already pumping through my veins. My eyes settled on the room around me- it was my bedroom, I was in my apartment. I looked outside- the sun was still down. I had come back home and taken a nap the second we got back from the village, I must have slept longer than I had intended to…

My eyes shifted to the side of my bed, before I rolled onto my side to brush my fingers along the smooth surface of my travel pack. I closed my eyes, sucking in a small breath. It was still here, still packed; I could feel my resolve harden… the dream… I didn't know what to make of it and quite frankly, I didn't have the time to decide, as I took in the time on the clock I realized the guards would be switching shifts in about an hour or so, that's when she would go- it would be the small window of opportunity she needed.

She couldn't have another day to say goodbye, it would crumble her resolve, she had to get control of herself. She needed to make sure whatever- this thing inside of her was couldn't take control of her body again, that she wouldn't be endangering the lives of millions, the first time the Jubi was loose was more than horrendous, hell, the hidden villages couldn't even handle the split up personifications of its chakra. Even if it was lying, and wasn't the mythical Jubi- What right did I have to put my friends into danger? They'd saved me plenty of times; put my life before their own. I would do the same for them.

I nodded and clenched my fist in resolve, springing from my bed to get dressed, and get some food in my stomach. I didn't have much time, and the aching in my chest was growing with every second spent.

I have to do this.

I have to do this.

I repeated the mantra in my head until I was convinced I wouldn't back out. I was many things, not all admirable of course, but there was one thing I refused to be, and that was a coward. Maybe this was in some way an act of cowardice in the eyes of some- but I _need _to leave because I have the humility to know I don't have the strength to hold back whatever it was that had made home inside my body somehow.

I let out a sigh and watched the instant ramen spin around in the microwave; this would probably be the last time I got to enjoy the unhealthy meal inside a place I could call home. Speaking of- where would I go? I could very well survive in nature easily, all shinobi could, it was summer in fire country, more than warm enough for camping and favorable conditions for hunting and harvesting herbs.

But- I was unsure if I had the ability to build a home or fight off all shinobi that wanted to attack me, would I have to fight back the Konoha hunter Nin? Could I do it? I couldn't very well allow them to capture me, but I couldn't hurt my own people….

I can't have them recognizing me either. Damn it all!

My eyes opened and I reached into the microwave to remove the ramen, looking down at the noodles almost warily before I began slurping them down. What else was I to do? Who was I to justify my own decisions? Of course I was only looking at my side of the argument, when someone favored one side of a conversation it was usually theirs, while the other person does the same.

Naruto wouldn't see it as a desperate act to protect him. He'd see it as one of his friends abandoning him…

Sasuke- well. Sasuke would get over it clearly, but look at her as nothing more than a traitor.

And Kakashi-Sensei would send a team after her due to what he saw in Wave Country, they would never allow her to escape if they thought she was a threat. I just- I needed to become stronger. To protect those I care about and even myself. The situation wouldn't be any different if I didn't have this giant ball of a chakra monster within me, I wasn't getting proper training, this village had nothing for me, nothing to offer, no family, no peace. There were friendships and some sense of duty- but duty for what? Being a weapon of someone else's used to do with what they will weather right or wrong and expect them to follow?

To be honest this wasn't the first time I'd thought about leaving the village. There were others. Completely unrelated to this situation which made it necessary to leave- I wanted more than anything to become a shinobi- an honorable shinobi to protect all, to save those that needed her without discrimination, but was that possible as a village-tied ninja?

I sighed and pulled on my traveling pack. There was no looking back. I couldn't endanger my village; I couldn't endanger those that I loved.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

The air was cold as I reached the gate to the village, oddly empty, my pack strapped securely to my back as I sucked in a soft breath, stepping forward, this would be my last step in this village-

"Sakura. What are you doing out here?" A low, husky voice questioned from behind me, I felt my heart give a painful clench and didn't dare turn around. I had to keep my voice even as I addressed him, turning slightly to look upon his blank features, but an underlying tone of warning was visible.

I paused, "It's late. You should go back to bed." I spoke blankly, doing my best to keep the moisture in my eyes from turning to tears.

"I said- _What are you doing here_." He snarled more pronouncedly, appearing behind me to grab on to fabrics of my traveling pack and yanking me backwards, I let out a sigh, cocking my head to stare at him aggressively, "It's none of your concern."

"You're my _comrade_ Sakura. It is _my business_." He persisted, his eyes spinning a bright crimson, on any other day I would have screamed in shock, but today wasn't 'any other day' , I wouldn't be allowed surprise today, I had to keep sharp…

I turned to face him, seeing desperation and rage in his sharringan eyes, my fingertips coming up to slowly run across his cheek, his skin smooth and slightly chilled from the cool night air, I felt a tear slide out of my bleak eyes as I bent forward, allowing my lips to brush against his, which he responded to shortly after, my hand coming behind his neck in his moment of distraction to pinch the nerves there, instantly rendering him unconscious.

I caught his body just before he could hit the ground with a grunt, looking around for an appropriate place to put him, I noticed a stone bench just to my left, and as I dragged his sleeping form forward, gently hoisting him up to lay.

I studied his unconscious face, he looked brooding and angry, even in his sleep, I brushed some silky onyx locks away from his forehead, reaching into my pack to pull out a bundle of silk, before placing it beside his slumbering head.

"Thank you Sasuke… for everything." I whispered, tears now spilling freely from my eyes as my words carried in the wind…

_Goodbye Konoha…  
_

**(Sasuke's Pov)**

"_Thank you Sasuke… for everything."_

My eyes shot open, and I reached for the kunai on my nightstand, only to realize my hand had swiped through the air where my nightstand _should be_, I was on my feat in an instant, I was outside… I looked around frantically, trying to remember what happened, or the explanation for the soreness in my body, or the fogginess in my mind.

Then it hit me…

Everything in my body was set ablaze with rage. How dare she leave. How _dare_ she think she had the right to leave Naruto and I… How… She'll die out there! She can't even protect herself! How could she steal my first kiss, and then just disappear.

I heard a crunch and looked down at the stone bench I was standing on, there was something wrapped in crimson silks lying there… I bent down to pick it up, carefully unrolling it, until a peak of bright yellow caught my attention, and the fabrics flittered away.

It was a… sunflower.

I felt moisture build in my eyes as I crushed the flower in my hands, teeth clenching in rage as I screamed into the sky, I didn't care who heard me, no, I never cared. How could she do this? How could she give me this and then just leave!

"_**SAKURA**_!"

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o 0o0o0o0o0o0oo0o0o0o0o00oo0o**

Okay, Short chapter but I didn't really want to drag this on, the next will be slightly similar to the scene after Sasuke leaves, so you'll get a pretty good amount of action out of that.

Oh, and Sakura is acting cold because she fears that if she hangs on too tight to the bonds her and her former teammates had that they'll never be able to get over the loss of her.

Read and Review, tell me what you think about it.

-Sakura-Centric


	11. Chapter 11

**Part One  
**_**  
Chapter Eleven; Outrunning the past  
**_**  
(Sakura's Pov)**

I opened my eyes, noticing the glow of sunshine that lit up the entrance of the cave I had stayed in over night, the flames of the fire I had started the night before reduced to a pile of smoking ash. I groaned and slowly stood, healing the injured muscles in my legs from my constant running yesterday.

"So what's the brilliant plan now?" I spat sourly, pulling my traveling pack back in its place as I finger-combed my hair absentmindedly, _perhaps _I should have thought this out better, I was going to lose everything, hah, and I didn't even have anywhere to go.

**Now, we forget everything those humans taught you, you're weak and pitiful the way you are. Too much kindness, too much of that pitiful sage in you. **The growling voice of the Jubi bounced off the walls of my mind, and I couldn't suppress a shiver. I wasn't sure what the beast was talking about, but I never really did. I rubbed my chin thoughtfully, where _would_ I go?

"First things first." I sighed, carefully untying the navy silks of my headband as I pulled it from my long locks, they seemed to become more silver for some reason, but I didn't ponder on it as I looked down at the shimmering metal in my hands, lovingly tracing the leaf symbol on it's plate, before a kunai appeared in my hand, and I bit back tears at the nauseating noise of metal against metal, looking away, unable to watch as I disrespected my beloved village so.

When I looked back down a thick, jagged line had been dragged through the emblem, and I dropped to my knees, hands digging into the soil of the cave desperately. I resisted the urge to cry out when pebbles dug into my fingers, splitting my fingernails, as I dropped the headband into the hole I pushed a pile of dirt over it, standing to wipe the tears from my eyes and the dirt from my hands.

"I have heard of an old woman, a puppet master from Suna, Chiyo. I guess we'll go there first." I spoke slowly; the breaking of my heart couldn't be heard over my footsteps as I disappeared through the entrance of the cave, sucking in the sweet morning air.

The sinister laughs of the ten-tailed beast making my heart break more, if possible, but something else told me to _remain calm_, some other side of my mind telling me I was on the path I needed to be on, no matter how dark it seemed, or how unjustifiable, as long as I was protecting those I loved… I would walk through darkness for eternity.

**(Sasuke's Pov)**

I closed my eyes, unable to listen to the words of the old man this village considered Hokage, my hands fisted tightly, Naruto had broken out into tears beside me, and I couldn't help but narrow my eyes.

He never _knew_ Sakura, he never tried to know Sakura, he just spewed on about himself all the time. He doesn't know that she likes sweets, or that she loves flowers, _he never knew her at all_! He just adopted some weak little infatuation for her all circling around her shallow need to attach himself to pretty women, he never knew her, he never knew Sakura Haruno.

_**Neither did you**_**, you merely knew her as a **_**child**_**. **A snickering voice echoed through my mind, a dark thought, my insecurities bubbling forward, but I pushed them back, hands fisting into the fabrics of my shorts.

I sucked in a breath to calm myself, trying to retract my sharringan, it wasn't like the byakugan, he couldn't see through solid objects, so he was just wasting chakra waiting for the damn old man to call us into his office, what the hell was that old bastard doing with the Nara kid? What would he know about Sakura- He's never even _talked_ to her!

"Sasuke… Can you believe she left…? She didn't even say goodbye!" Naruto wailed like a moron, his face shoved into his hands, which was probably best because I'm certain if he had looked at me I would have killed him with my glaring.

_Oh she said goodbye all right, and __**I'll make her pay for it.**_

"You're- h-hands are b-bleeding Sasuke-San." A soft voice stuttered from beside, I presume it was the Hyuga girl who couldn't speak a sentence if her life depended on it, why was she here anyway?

I looked down to my hands to see that my fingernails had dug into the skin of my hands, leaving bleeding crimson cuts on its surface. I closed my eyes and sucked in another breath through clenched teeth. My blood ablaze with anger and determination. Sakura will be brought back to the village, even if I have to drag her _kicking and screaming._

Every moment they waste is a moment for her to get further away, it's been over twelve hours since she defected, she could be halfway out of the Fire Nation or further by now!

"Naruto, Sasuke." A drab voice questioned as a spiky head of hair popped out of the doorway, Nara looking calm and lazy as always, I felt my eyes narrow viciously at his as I shot up from my seat, shoving him out of my way as I stepped into the room, noticing we weren't the only one's here…

A ninja in a clad green full body jumpsuit and another that seemed to be a Hyuga by his milky white eyes as well as Kiba Inuzuka, The Hyuga looking impassive and uncaring, and Green clad ninja looking determined and overly energized and Kiba looked like he didn't care either way.

"It seems Haruno Sakura has defected from the village. Now… since she is a civilian with no formal family, we can't send out a group of Jonin, seeing as she's left just as all of the contestants for the Chunin exams have, there are high chances she'll meet a few unfriendly ninja on her way, if you plan to catch her, the five of you can go and try to retrieve her… but if you haven't done so by noon, we'll be forced to mark her a missing nin." He spoke, his eyes sad, but I felt the urge to punch him in the fucking face.

How can he say that since Sakura is an orphan not from a clan that her life isn't _important_? I snarled but felt the dobe's hands clutching to the back of my shirt, prepared to throw his orange and blue clad self through a window and lunge, he paused and lent forward, "Sasuke, if you do that we won't be allowed to go, we need all the help we can to get Sakura-Chan back, just calm down." He whispered.

I snarled but straightened back into a defensive stance with my hands in my pocket, but that didn't stop me from glaring at the old man who wasn't doing anything about my lost fucking teammate who could be lying in a ditch dead somewhere because she was found by some-

Calm. I sucked in another breath to try and calm myself down.

I needed to remain _calm_ to catch Sakura. Patience.

**(Sakura's Pov)**

Damn it… I didn't make it far enough, I could feel chakra presences nearing, namely, Sasuke, Naruto and Shikamaru, the rest seemed familiar but I couldn't exactly place them. Why would _Shikamaru_ be in the group? He didn't even know me, well- only through Ino and even then he didn't seem interested in speaking with me. I suppose that means the teams were short, and I know they wouldn't send a proper team out to get me, I'm as plain as paper to the village, easily forgotten. But it's best that way; it means too many people didn't have to miss me.

I snarled and ducked out of the way of a low hanging tree branch, checking my chakra reserves, which wasn't exactly a problem, considering the Jubi was more than willing to compensate with what I didn't have.

**There's a secondary group approaching the team chasing us, their levels are past Chunin, I'm assuming the Konoha ninja are splitting up. **The Jubi growled restlessly, the voice not effecting me as much as usual, I offered a nod and fisted my hands, repeating the mantra _'they can protect themselves, they can protect themselves_,' I needed to break the bonds between us, or they would never let me go. I had to do it, I had to do it, _I had to do it. _If I popped out of no where and tried to save the day it would only make it worse.

No matter how much I repeated it still _fucking hurt_ to have to say. I had to do it. Whatever was inside me _clearly _was unstable and I couldn't afford to be weak anymore, if I let it loose- it could hurt everyone I've ever loved. Sasuke, Naruto, Kakashi-Sensei (Even if he was a jackass) Ino, and my greatest love of all, Konoha.

_**Don't blame your insanity on me**_**, girl. It's the way your own blood reacts to my power. Perhaps you're more bloodthirsty than you're willing to admit.**

I _chose_ to ignore that.

Soon I was at the Valley of the End, pausing atop Madara Uchiha's stone head, staring at the gap in awe, I've never seen it before, but I shook away the awe and began to cross, looking warily at the forest on the other side of the great falls.

"SAKURA!"

I flinched as I heard a voice, but quickly dropped any kind of emotion from my eyes, turning around to see Sasuke- his eyes the same crimson as before, his chest heaving in deadly pants. I had to push back everything I had to stare impassively at the Uchiha.

**(Narrative Pov.-.)**

The air was tight, the sounds of rushing water filling the silence. Two sets of eyes, bleak jade meeting a fiery crimson, not a word spoken between the two. Sasuke's inky locks swayed with the tossing winds as his hand clenched into fists at his sides, his shoulders shaking slightly in rage, adrenaline pumping like fire through his veins.

"Sasuke, I don't want to have to hurt you." Her voice was even, uncaring, her hand forming a tiger seal as Hanami appeared before her, chakra strings connecting to the wooden masterpiece in less than a second, her eyes flashing dangerously, "But I will if I have to."

His lips curved up into a sneer, "You're weak Sakura. Don't kid yourself."

She didn't allow his words to faze her, she knew he was coming from a place of hurt, and while he may mean it, he didn't direct it to hurt her. She sucked in an unnoticeable, calming breath, assuring herself she was properly connected with Hanami as the colossal puppet dodged an oncoming kunai with the long, thin blade that shot from its wooden palm. "_Too slow_, Sas-u-ke." She whispered, her eyes turning to blazing slits as he charged.

Quickly jumping back she maneuvered Hanami to catch his extended fist, using it as leverage to throw him into a large boulder, sparing as much momentum as possible. She didn't want to hurt him, but she couldn't allow herself to be captured or injured too badly, she needed to remain level-headed.

Sasuke's eyes swirled crimson and she felt herself instinctively flinch as he stood, wiping the rubble from his shirt nonchalantly, his stride to her was long, powerful, as if she hadn't just thrown him through solid rock. She had to quickly dodge the coming fireballs, using Hanami to block the brunt of the attack; she had proofed the wood so fire wouldn't affect it as much as possible.

"Stop being an idiot, Sakura." Sasuke growled, appearing behind the pinkette, who scrambled to get away from his hand, although she wasn't quick enough and it curled around her throat, she quickly used Hanami to attack him from behind, landing a rough blow to his lower back, enough to assure that he would be pissing blood tonight.

Sasuke let out a strangled cough, pumping a small amount of healing chakra into her throat to ease some of the pressure and pain, her eyes were slightly watery from a small lack of oxygen, but otherwise she was fine. She wiped the corner of her mouth with the back of her hand, panting slightly to catch her breath.

Sasuke didn't give her a second, came charging at her, as a good ninja should, her time of weakness becoming his time of opportunity. His fist connected with her stomach and she couldn't bite back the gasp that escaped her lips, the only thing keeping her stomach from spilling her lunch was the pain of her lower rib cracking, the pain blurring her vision for a moment, Sasuke's foot connecting with the pinkette's collar bone, a loud crack echoing through the valley as she whimpered under the pain, she bit down on her lip, snarling and flicking her index finger forward, A loud crack echoed through the air as Hanami's mouth sprang open, senbon pouring from the secondary metal tube in the wooden puppets throat.

Sakura ducked out of the way, rolling gracefully across the ground as Sasuke's fist connected with the ground where her head once was, his eyes a blazing crimson as he yanked out some of the senbon needles that had buried themselves into his back.

Sasuke's hands were a blur as he went through several complex hand seals, as he took stance fire poured before him, an immense fireball slowly forming, one of his best jutsu, the Uchiha were best known for fire jutsu. Hence the uchiwa fans.

She hissed and quickly ducked away from his oncoming attack, although it didn't stop the fire from singing her clothing, her left arm took the brunt of the damage, a harsh burn stood bleeding.

From the remainder of his immense flames, Sasuke stepped forward, looking down at the pinkette with unmasked fury in his eyes as he looked down at her, she closed her eyes, prepared for a harsh attack, a sad smile tugging at her cheeks as she curled a hand around her burn, flinching slightly as she attempted to heal it, burns however were complex to heal, and her skills still weren't very honed at all, she was more of a paper-ninja, she could do all hand seals, create jutsu after seeing it just once without a qualm, it was using it in combat that caused her problems.

"_You're coming back to the village_." His tone was harsh, biting, eyes narrowed and cruel as he grabbed the small girl from the scruff of her shirt, lifting her up effortlessly, she didn't even toss, staring down at him from her ascended position with bleak eyes, although he could see the pain she was trying to mask, it did nothing but bring a sneer to his face as he pulled back his fist, preparing to knock her out with a finishing blow when something cool and slick wrapped around the base of his elbow, and he was forced to look back, seeing Sakura's puppet standing, out of it's fingertips a tendril of cool metal had snaked around his arm, and was now slowly pulling him backwards, he turned and looked back to the pinkette, his crimson eyes finally flinching down to her hands, where he could see her manipulating the puppet with her fingertips, although her eyes never left his, determination burning brightly in jade orbs.

He yanked his arm forward, hearing the chord snap, but it bit into his arm, the slick liquid becoming almost acidic, he was forced to release the pink haired kunoichi in his grip, his teeth immediately clenching with anger as he tore the sleeve off his arm, tossing it to the ground where it continued to fester through the earth, turning back to her before drawing a kunai, she was panting, holding on to her wounded arm, fingers twitching and curling as she manipulated the large puppet, it met Sasuke's kunai with a katana, metal sparked through the air.

Sasuke was moments away from landing a blow, when he was forced to pause in his tracks, his muscles no longer working, the puppet before him stilled instantly, katana inches away from his exposed throat, soft, melodic laughter erupted behind him, and he felt his body moving against his will, he was forced to turn away from the puppet and face his pink haired comrade, her eyes shielded by her silvery bangs, blood dripped down her wounded arm like some kind of grotesque fountain, the laughter was coming through her cracked and bloody lips, skin an unhealthy shade of white usually reserved for cadavers, her Cheshire grin was almost beautiful with angst as she held him in place with chakra strings, the other hand connecting to the wooden puppet behind him, which he was practically at the mercy of at the moment, his sharringan blazed furiously, but she wasn't looking him in the eyes, so he couldn't capture her in genjustu.

"You're so _pathetic._ If you want me so bad, come get me."

Hanami's large wooden hand expertly smacked against the nerves on the base of his neck, like Sakura herself had done the night before, and Sasuke fell to the ground, Sakura slowly raised her head to the sky, grateful her bangs had covered them as she wiped away the tears that had been pouring from them freely, she looked to her unconscious comrade, and dropped to her knees, an anguished whimper escaping her lips as rain began to fell, she raised her palms to the sky, willing it to wash not only her blood, but her teammate, her friend, her first love's blood from her form as well.

**-X-X-X-  
**

Soaking silver locks fell into Kakashi's eyes as he hurriedly made his way through the expanse of trees along with the small medical squad, who had split into groups to meet with the wounded genin, Naruto and Pakkun steadily moving beside the silver haired ex-ANBU as they made their way to the Valley of the End, where they had been heading before the rain fell, and they began loosing Sakura's scent.

Kakashi's visible charcoal eye drifted to the orange clad genin beside him worriedly, the whiskered youth was shaking, apparently Sasuke had branched away from him and found her first, because the only reason they were heading in the right direction, or what they thought to be was the right direction, was because they'd caught glimpse of one of Sasuke's fireballs.

"What will they do to Sakura-Chan..?" The blonde questioned, caecilian blue eyes locked forward as he clenched his fists, willing his heart to stop hitting his rib cadge so hard, but that didn't stop the anxious shaking that wracked through his body. His two teammates could have killed each other by now… Or Sasuke could be dead and Sakura gone, vice versa…

"She'll get a slap on the wrist…" He spoke slowly, his voice screaming to the blonde that he was trying to be sensitive to his feelings, "If she's to return before she's claimed a missing nin…" His words trailed off as they arrived at the valley, the smell of blood, rain, and smoke filled the air, the Jonin quickly scoped the area, much of the stone form of Madara Uchiha was destroyed, blood and weapons scattered the area, she bent down to pick up a scrap of blue fabric, hardly recognizable from the holes that seemed to be burnt into it, his eye narrowed, trying to better inspect the item, when he released a yelp and was forced to release it, looking down at his gloved hand only to see a hole had been eaten into his gloves, "Acid." He concluded, bending down to face his ninken, "Pakkun, do you smell Sakura?" He questioned, eyes narrowed slightly as he heard a muffled groan not far off.

Until Naruto's loud, rather clumsy footsteps brought his attention to the blonde, head hung down, blonde locks hiding his eyes, Sasuke's limp, pale form being supported by Naruto who'd taken it upon himself to drape Sasuke's arm around his shoulder as the blonde supported him with an arm around his waist.

The Jonin's hands shook as he watched Naruto's head raised eyes full of painful tears, "Is Sasuke-"

"He's alive." Naruto shot back blandly, the silver haired male slightly taken aback, never having heard him talk in that tone before; the Jonin swallowed the lump in his throat and looked down at the little brown ninkken before him, whose head bowed slightly as it let out a low whimper.

"Sakura's gone." Kakashi stated softly, watching as Naruto offered a small nod, walking slowly back the direction they had come, as his students forms retreated, Kakashi's hands pulled a photograph from his pocket, yellowed and wrinkled with age, the rain leaving darkened splotches on it as he looked forward to the crying skies,

"I'm sorry Rin, Obito… Sakura."

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o 0o00oo0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

the next chapter will be Sakura's Pov, and then a time skip should come… So… Yeah, everything should be pretty cool. 

**-Sakura-Centic**


	12. Chapter 12

**Part One  
**_**  
Chapter Twelve; Journey the Dark Path**_

**(Sakura's Pov)**

It's been two weeks since I defected from my village and left everything behind. I'd saved up a decent amount of money through my brief career as a genin, D-rank missions don't pay much, but enough to keep my afloat for the moment, I'd worked some odd jobs for people in small villages along the way, either for a place to sleep, or a few coins to pay my way. I plowed fields, weeded gardens, repaired carts, disposed of bandits.

I was now just outside the boarders of Suna, the sun was setting, several orange and pinks casting across the sky, the temperature here was considerably hotter than Konoha, which was pretty warm weather to begin with, but as the sun began to set it was becoming fierce. I had built a fire, and was now making repairs to Hanami, fixing the flawed designs.

**What makes you so sure this woman will accept your offer? She's a member of this village's council, is she not?**

_That's irrelevant at the moment, I may be a missing Nin in Konohagakure, but Suna isn't our allies. _

The best responded with cackling, husky laughter, **Do not confuse bravery with stupidity, girl. What makes you think these people wouldn't attack you on a whim? **

_You would allow that?_ I shot back cockily, growing used to the voice in my mind, no matter how chilling. I ignored the pulsation of warmth that spread out through my bandaged marking of the Jubi, narrowing my eyes at the insidious breast that had mad delusions of me walking to his side in becoming a tyrant.

His responding snort was enough to raise the hairs on the back of my throat, **I'd watch what you say to me girl. I may just follow you into the underworld and make a snack of your innards. **

"I don't think going to the same place." I remarked dryly as I brushed my paintbrush across the smooth wood surface of the once Geisha-resembling puppet, although after what it had been used for- It didn't seem fit anymore. Its face was now the smooth, black lines of a dragon. I closed my eyes, breathing in the inky smell that followed the dark paint.

**Che, Che. Little girl, you'll kill just as I have, don't delude yourself by assuming a position on a pedestal. **

I reminded silent, backing away from the drying puppet to pull a dusted scroll from my pack, running my fingers over the surface fondly, closing my eyes to relish in it's feel before I pulled the small string that kept it shut, it rolled open slowly, revealing the map to the large, ancient map, a puff of dust making me cough as it erupted from the map.

**Eh, a summoning contract? Where on earth did you get **_**that**_**?**

I sneered and laid out the map before me, drawing a kunai and slicing through my palm, hissing in pain at the sensation before dragging my fingertips through the pooling blood of my hands before I began elegantly writing my name, "It was with me since I became an orphan." I spoke absentmindedly, continuing to swiftly create letter by letter.

**And what beast will you be signing this contract with, **_**little girl**_**?**

My features pulled into a grin as the last of my name was signed off, "Umihebi"

**Sea Serpents? My, my. You're quite the strange one.**

I shielded my eyes from the responsive puff of smoke, looking at the large-dog sized serpent that appeared before me, balancing on it's belly despite the lack of legs not seeming to have trouble keeping balance, it's similarities to a traditional looking dragon were striking, the serpent focused it's milky colored eyes on me, "A Haruno, I presume?" It questioned in a gruff, male voice.

"H-hai." I responded, its appearance all together intimidating, I probably should have summoned it a bit closer to a water source.

It looked over me with its pupil-less milky colored eyes, sizing me up. I squirmed a bit under the intense glare, earning comment-less snort from the Jubi. The serpent sighed, slithering forward; it took everything I had not to jump back in surprise.

"I am Umiziki." It spoke, seeming to stretch straighter and look at me blankly.

"Are you going to accept the contract agreement, or what?" I sighed, eyes looking to the sea serpent before me warily, not meaning to sound disrespectful, I'm sure there would have been a better time to sign the contract, I just didn't have much room for error now that I had made myself a missing nin.

The serpent laughed haughtily at my blunt words, I hoped that was a sign of acceptance. "I like you, headstrong, just like Ame." It spoke; I paused, offering a questioning glance at the creature before me, "Ame?"

The creature grinned, it's thousands of tiny needle-like teeth gleaming an ominous crimson, I presumed it was just a trick of the light, but if I would have taken a second glace into the cat-like grin, maybe I would have seen bits and pieces of flesh.

"You're just like your mother. Density and all." It snickered casually, my blood was spiking with curiosity, and by the way the creature looked at me, I wouldn't doubt the serpent could smell it.

"You knew my mother?" I questioned, leaning forward to stare intently into the milky eyes of the creature before me, its grin widened, and I almost reared back, there was a bit of flesh and blood in its teeth, it took everything I had not to squeal and jump back, but I needed this damn thing to like me.

"That's a story for another time, young Haruno. We accept your offer." It spoke, leaning forward, I looked at it questionably before a spike of immense pain shot through my forearm, I couldn't hold back the groan of pain as thousands of pin-point teeth sank into me, before I could retaliate the beast had disappeared into a cloud of smoke and I was left in the middle of the clearing, holding my bleeding appendage.

"What the fuck was that?!" I snapped to no one, trying to heal the wound, but it was forcing out my chakra, or maybe I just didn't have enough from all the traveling and whatnot, I don't really care, my arm fucking hurt, I would have rather taken a kunai to the back than this, it was festering, my arm was smoking with immense heat, poison? Acid? Kami, _it hurts. _

**Ancient acceptance amongst beasts. It's marked you, to assure you can no longer make contracts with other creatures, the serpents have claimed you as their own. **The Jubi drawled out as if speaking of the weather, **Sea serpents are infamous man eaters, but loyal nonetheless. Their saliva is acidic, that won't heal no matter what you try, you're just wasting chakra. **

"Kami, damn it!" I growled, halting the chakra flow to my hands, wrapping the wound with gauze, or at least attempting to, however, it just burnt through those as well, so with no other choice, I simply bit through the pain.

As the last of the sun's rays disappeared I lent my head back against the ruff surface of a tree, my eyes cast to the glittering obsidian sky, watching the stars glimmer.

As her mind faded to blackness, one thought surfaced in her mind, 'freedom'.

_**-X-X-X-**_

The sun was starting to rise, and I was steadily stomping out the last of my campfire from the night before, my eyes slightly pink and blurry from the new awakening, I was never one for mornings, speaking of, where the hell was Inner? She hated mornings just as much.

**My presence is stronger and forced her further into the recesses of your impudent mortal mind. **

"I liked her a whole hell of a lot more than I like you." I grumbled, sniffling with a small cough, great, I was getting sick. Stupid unpredictable bipolar Suna weather, stupid hot fucking days and freezing nights…

I cupped a hand to shield my eyes from the bright sunlight as I looked at the expanse of land ahead, I had a ways to go if I was ever going to be able to control my body, and learn how to sustain the Jubi's chakra, that, I was sure of.

The decent into darkness has begun, and I had to prepare myself for what was to come. I couldn't be the weak little girl I had been before. There were hunter nin after me now, I was marked a missing nin with inside information on Konoha, and I would surely be hunted down, not seen as a dire threat, but nuisance enough for my head to be worth something, considering the only other missing nin was Itachi Uchiha.

I groaned, clutching my hair in annoyance, it was too damn early to get myself so worked up, I was going to end up with gray hair if I kept doing this to myself. Kami, I sound like Kakashi-Sensei… Wait, no, he isn't my sensei anymore, hell, I doubt if I ever could have called him that. He taught me enough skills to kill a rabbit, but surely not enough to keep my alive; I had to learn that on my own.

I leapt forward, clutching onto one of the higher branches and pulling myself forward with a small grunt and minimal effort. I needed to get into Suna before the sun started to set, and figure out just how the hell I was going to convince this old hag to train me, from what I've read about her she's not one to just take people off the streets.

As I entered Suna (Courtesy of the Jubi telling me which sides of the gate were left unguarded) I'd been walking around aimlessly for hours, glad I didn't have my headband to attract attention, but my pink hair gave me away a bit as a foreigner.

Just when I'd come to a lake, I thought the search was over, that I was never going to find Chiyo, but then I noticed an elderly woman sitting on a dock, fishing pole in hand, looking still as death, but her chakra reserves were powerful and easily noticed, I felt a maniac grin spread across my cheeks and I raced around the curling edge of the lake, feeling myself get closer and closer to the peer.

That's when I noticed the woman wasn't moving, even as I came to stand behind her, poking her gently in the shoulder.

She sweatdropped as a loud snore came from the older woman, her eyebrow twitched in annoyance as she poked the old woman a bit harder, "Hey you-"

_**THWACK!**_

"Ow! What the hell lady!?" I groaned, rubbing the lump atop my head where this damn hag had stricken me with her fishing pole, said hag was now looking around curiously until her wrinkled features came to rest on me with a lazy 'eh?' of question.

"What is it you want, girlie? You don't look like you're from around here." She said, warily narrowing her eyes at me as her wrinkled hand buzzed with chakra, I blushed and held up my hands in defense.

"You've got it all wrong, you see- I came here because I want to learn-"

"How to become a puppet master." The old woman huffed, deflating from her prior readiness to strike as she crossed her arms and turned to face me, "I've had many a' shinobi come here and ask to me under my tutelage, what makes you think you're any better, girlie?"

I let out a small sigh and plopped down beside the old woman, "I- I have this creature within me, one I cannot control… I need to become stronger, so that I can protect those precious to me…" I said softly, placing my hands in my lap, staring down at them with glazed jade eyes.

The old woman looked thoughtful for a moment, a look of sadness on her features as she uttered a loud sigh, grabbing her fishing pole and casting a line out to the waters, where it entered with a 'plop'.

"Why do you want my help, girlie? I'm sure the slug princess wouldn't deny you." She said, spitting the last part as if poison on her lips. I wasn't sure who she was addressing, so I simply squirmed uncomfortably in my seat, allowing my legs to swing back and forth over the dock, the tips of my toes skimming the surface of the water from time to time.

"You're legendary in both poisons and puppetry, which were my first choices in training, although my sensei didn't have much to do with me, so the only things I know are self-taught and still very, very unpracticed." I whispered, embarrassment evident on my lips.

A loud, haughty laugh escaped the ender woman's lips as her hand came to slap me on the back, (Almost knocking me from the dock, damn hag) "Well, we all must start somewhere, ne girly?"

My eyes brightened and the momentary attack on my back forgotten a bright smile crossed my lips as I looked up to the elder woman.

"You mean you'll train me?" I beamed, unable to control my joy.

She sighed and shrugged, "I'm an old woman. I don't have much time left in me, and I guess I'd like for my skills to live on…"

"So in short, yes, I will take you on as my apprentice."

**0o0o0o0o0oo0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0 o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0 o0o0o0o**

BOOYAH. Chiyo is a fucking badass, I always wanted Sakura to be a puppet master, they looked so fucking awesome in the Anime. Gah, I'm so excited, the next chapter will follow along with Sakura's training, and then a time skip afterwards.

Reviews please? I love hearing feedback from my readers, makes me feel appreciated as an author. 

**-Sakura-Centric**


	13. Chapter 13

**Part One  
**_**  
Chapter Thirteen; Gone With the Wind **_

**(Sakura's Pov)**

"Damn it, girlie! Quit being so stiff! You need the strings to flow like water otherwise the puppet won't be able to make fluid movements!" The hag snapped, right in my ear might I add as I growled and _once_ _again_, flowed a new stream of chakra into Hanami, who didn't look so good considering Chiyo had stripped it down to nearly nothing, saying the work done to the puppet was 'inhumanly useless' or something like that, damn woman and her impossible training regiment.

"No! No! No!" The older woman scolded, slapping me on the hand with a ruler she had produced from no where. I yelped and rubbed the aching flesh, the loss of chakra causing hanami's stripped form to crash to the ground, Chiyo looked from me to the puppet with an exasperated sigh, muttering something along the lines of 'kids these days'

She seemed to calm down as she began rummaging through the pack tied around her waist, I watched in silent annoyance as she produced a square of paper and handed it to me, I looked at it curiously, it was sucking my chakra towards it, the feeling was strange and quite frankly freaked me out so I wasn't to blame for the little yelp and dropping of the piece of paper, Chiyo groaned and rubbed her temples, "Sakura, it's supposed to tell you what kind of elemental chakra you possess, just channel your chakra into it evenly." The old woman sighed and handed me another piece, which I took with a grumbled 'thanks'.

I began calmly channeling my chakra into it, watching in awe as the paper crinkled and then became damp. I looked at the soggy, crinkled piece of paper in my hands for a second before looking up to the old hag, who was rubbing her chin in thought, before (quite rudely) yanking it away from me, examining it herself.

"Lightning and water, eh?" She said, probably to herself. This woman sure did talk to herself a lot.

**You aren't one to talk, little one. **The gruff voice of the Jubi interrupted (also quite rudely) yanking me from my musings.

_You aren't me; therefore I most certainly do not talk to myself._

A loud, annoyed sigh once again pulled me from my musings and I looked up to see Chiyo staring at me in exasperation.

"Well. Now that we know your elements, we can suit up your puppet to match it, perhaps… perhaps I'll give you one of my own." She trailed off, a look of fleeting memory passing through her dark eyes before she motioned for me to follow her.

"Come girlie, we have much to do."

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o 0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

**Urrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr… Okay, pitifully short, next chapter will be a time skip, two years, to be exact, be prepared for excitement, lot's of confusion, and a badass Sakura who looks hot as hell.**

-Sakura-Centric


End file.
